Insider reveals why NFL gave Falcons a light punishment for tampering

Following the NFL’s recent decision to penalize the Atlanta Falcons for violating the league’s anti-tampering policy, Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer shared on Thursday’s episode of “The Rich Eisen Show” why the punishment was not as severe as some had been anticipating.

“I do think that this is one of those scenarios where this is a little bit of a victimless crime, and this stuff happens more than people know. And I don’t know that the league really wanted to open some Pandora’s Box where it’s like, ‘Okay, you know now we’re coming down really hard on this, and now are we gonna be chasing a half dozen cases like it every single year?'”

An investigation conducted by the NFL found that the Falcons were guilty of “improper contact” with free agents Kirk Cousins, Darnell Mooney and Charlie Woerner before the league’s unrestricted free-agency period officially began.

Due to their violation, the Falcons were forced to forfeit their fifth-round selection in the 2025 NFL Draft and  were fined $250,000 by the NFL. Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot was also ordered to pay a fine of $50,000 as a result of the league’s investigation.

Given that Atlanta violated the NFL’s anti-tampering policy with its pursuit of more than just one free agent this offseason, some believed the league would’ve come down harder on the team. But Breer’s recent comments reveal that the NFL wasn’t really looking to make an example out of the Falcons.

Tampering before the start of free agency every offseason is something that many in the NFL are fully aware of. But when a team gets sloppy and careless with their pursuit of a player before free agency, then the league feels like they don’t really have any other choice than to hand out a punishment for breaking the rules.

When it comes to Atlanta, Cousins mentioned multiple instances in his introductory news conference where he met with members of the organization before NFL teams were officially allowed to contact free agents this past offseason.

Had he not shared those details, who knows if the league would have even spent any time figuring out if the Falcons committed an anti-tampering policy violation this year.

Based on the lack of severity surrounding the punishment Atlanta was given by the NFL, one can probably figure out the likely answer to that question.