Could Kirk Cousins’ departure cause a late twist in the Vikings draft plans?
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio is once again beating the drum for the NFL to bring down harsh punishment on the Falcons for allegedly tampering with Cousins.
To quickly rewind: After six years in Minnesota, Kirk Cousins signed a massive four-year, $180 million contract with the Atlanta Falcons just 90 minutes into the NFL’s two-day legal negotiating window. Two days later at his introductory press conference Cousins let slip that he had contact with Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts and a Falcons trainer before the league’s new year began at 3 p.m. on March 13.
“There’s great people here,” Cousins said at his press conference. “And it’s not just the football team. I mean, I’m looking at the support staff. Meeting, calling, yesterday, calling our head athletic trainer, talking to our head of P.R. I’m thinking, we got good people here. And that’s exciting to be a part of.”
It’s been alleged that this was a violation of the tampering rules.
“No club, nor any person employed by or otherwise affiliated with a club, is permitted to tamper with a player who is under contract to or whose exclusive negotiating rights are held by another club,” states the NFL rule book.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported days later that the NFL had opened an investigation into whether the Falcons had tampered with Cousins. Pelissero noted that such an investigation is standard procedure by the league office.
There has been no update from the league office or either team on the status of that investigation.
In a segment on his daily show Friday, Florio threw out the suggestion that proper punishment for the Falcons’ “blatant tampering” would be that Atlanta and Minnesota swap first-round picks.
Minnesota currently hold the No. 11 pick in the first-round while Atlanta have the No. 8 pick. A pick swap of that nature would be monumental in the team’s effort to move up higher in the draft to select their quarterback of the future.
“I do think that would be a possibility from the league,” said Florio’s co-host NBC Sports reporter Charean Williams. “I do think that it would be something that the Vikings, obviously, would like very much, and the Falcons would not like very much. It would also effect the other teams in there who might cry foul that the NFL has done this. But there has to be some penalty paid by the Falcons because it was such blatant tampering with Kirk Cousins.”
Alongside holding the No. 11 pick the Vikings also have the No. 23 pick. If the league were to force first-round pick swap Minnesota would have even better bargaining power over other teams looking to jump up.
There is recent precedent in the league punishing teams for tampering with a pick swap. Just last year the Cardinals were forced to swap third-round picks with the Eagles (dropping down 28 spots) for impermissible contact with Philadelphia defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon.
Arizona eventually hired Gannon as their head coach. The NFL announced the punishment just five minutes before the 2023 draft was set to start.
