Last March, the NFL acknowledged years of pre-free agency tampering by opening for the first time a three-day window allowing teams to negotiate with agents of impending free agents.
Then, just before the window opened, the NFL sent a memo that scared everyone straight.
The rule said this: Beginning at 12:00 midnight ET on Saturday, March 9 (i.e., after 11:59:59 p.m. ET, on Friday, March 8) and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 12, clubs are permitted to contact, and enter into negotiations with, the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2012 Player Contracts at 4:00 p.m. ET on March 12. However, a contract cannot be executed with a new club until 4:00 p.m. ET on March 12. (Emphasis added.)
The memo said this: [P]rior to the beginning of the new League Year it is impermissible for a club to enter into an agreement of any kind, express or implied, oral or written, or promises, undertakings, representations, commitments, inducements, assurances of intent or understandings of any kind concerning the terms or conditions of employment offered to, or to be offered to, any prospective Unrestricted Free Agent for inclusion in a Player Contract after the start of the new League Year. (Emphasis added.)
The two messages were inconsistent. The rule said negotiations may happen but that a contract cannot be executed before the official start of free agency. But the memo severely limited the negotiations that may occur. It was impossible to negotiate anything if the possibility of actually negotiating to a consensus was prohibited.
This year, the rule is the same, with a 12-hour delay in the launch of the tampering window: Beginning at 12:00 noon ET on Saturday, March 8 and ending at 3:59:59 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 11, clubs are permitted to contact, and enter into negotiations with, the certified agents of players who will become Unrestricted Free Agents upon the expiration of their 2013 player contracts at 4:00 p.m. ET on March 11. However, a contract cannot be executed with a new club until 4:00 p.m. ET on March 11. (Emphasis added.)
