ESPN's Adam Schefter reports the punishment for the Atlanta Falcons tampering with Kirk Cousins and the Philadelphia Eagles tampering with Saquon Barkley is supposed to come down this week. Due to the Falcons' alleged tampering being "more significant," Atlanta's punishment is supposed to be more significant than Philadelphia's. With that in mind, let's take a chance to try to predict what kind of punishment Atlanta could be looking at based on past precedents.
Here are two recent examples of punishments that the NFL could be basing their decision on:
- Miami Dolphins lost their 2023 first-round pick and 2024 third-round pick for tampering with quarterback Tom Brady and Sean Peyton.
- Kansas City Chiefs lost their 2016 third-round pick and a 2017 sixth-round pick for their tampering with former Eagles receiver Jeremy Maclin. There was also around $260,000 fined to head coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey.
Atlanta's alleged allegations are not as egregious as Miami's, especially with no owner nor coach intervention but Kirk Cousins was the top quarterback in this free agency cycle, similar to Brady. With that in mind, it should be more than Kansas City's third-rounder and sixth-rounder for Maclin.
The NFL could see how the Falcons covet their second-round picks, as General Manager Terry Fontenot has moved around in the second round in all four years in Atlanta, and take that away. Ultimately, the NFL can do whatever they want, but taking away a top 100 pick and another day-three pick with fines for the two most well-known figures in Atlanta seems the most logical.
Projected Punishment: 2025 second-round pick, 2026 fourth-round pick. $300,000 fine for head coach Raheem Morris and general manager Terry Fontenot.
