Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and NFL writer Frank Schwab react to the Falcons forfeiting a 2025 5th-rd draft pick after NFL finds the team had improper contact with free agents, including Kirk Cousins. Hear the full conversation on the “Zero Blitz” podcast – and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
The Falcons have, uh, they’ve been punished now for tampering, tampering including the signing of Kirk Cousins and a couple of other free agents.
They were fined 250 grand.
Now, mind you 250 grand to a billionaire is like what you and I spend when we go to Starbucks, but that’s fine.
They were fined a billionaire.
Starbucks, Arthur Blank’s lost his starving money for the week.
They were also their GM fined 50,000.
That’s not nothing.
And then the team lost 1/5 round draft pick.
So Frank, let me just ask you this if all you’re gonna give up is a little bit of cash and 1/5 round pick.
Why would you not tamper every single year?
Yeah, I, I just feel like if this is the tampering fine and penalty, but why does just do it every time?
I look, we all know NFL teams tamper if you tell them, hey, ok, we’re gonna add three days where you could legally tamper.
They’re gonna push that out.
Ok?
Now a week before we’re gonna start tampering.
So everybody in the league knows everybody tampers, right?
But if you’re dumb enough to get caught.
You should be punished like that.
That’s just how it goes in many aspects, life and the Falcons were dumb enough to get caught.
Kirk cousins.
Kinda let it slip that.
Hey, yeah, they had been talking to me for a while and for the NFL to just say, yeah, fifth round pick and the money is nothing you talked about.
Yes, it is.
Sticker shock to maybe me or you and, and that’s a few Teslas to other people.
Arthur Blake just writes that check and doesn’t care.
He doesn’t think about it twice.
So fifth round pick $250,000.
I I I’d do this all day if I was an NFL team and you really, really want a guy.
Kirk cousins got the most money of any free agent who switched teams this off season.
If you really want a guy in free agency, you’d say the only penalty for us is 1/5 round pick to get on this guy early, make a phone call.
Who cares if we get caught?
I mean, really the, the, the punishment was surprisingly low to me and I know it is to you too.
Yeah, I mean, here’s the thing.
Uh I, I just looked it up.
Arthur Blank’s net worth is $7 billion.07 billion dollars.
This is nothing to Arthur Blank.
The other side of it to me is what’s more important getting your quarterback or losing 1/5 round draft pick.
Like if you have to tamper to get your starting quarterback, then you’re gonna do it if it costs you 1/5 round pick, if it costs you 1/4 round pick.
Like this is such a joke of a punishment from the league that I’ve got to look at it and say if I’m the Vikings, well, we might get in trouble.
Keep in mind sewn.
Went, there was some accusations of tampering for sewn going to the Eagles.
The NFL also told us today that they looked at phone records, they looked at all the information, they found no evidence of tampering so like you can do it carefully enough to not get caught.
To me, it just shows such blatant.
I don’t give a dam.
I’m I’m gonna get my quarterback even if it costs me that we do though.
Let’s at least have to acknowledge this.
It adds to the cost of acquisition for Kirk Cousins when we eventually talk about whatever the future looks like for Michael Pennix Junior because now you gave a quarterback a guaranteed contract of 100 million guaranteed, 100 and $80 million contract and you gave up 1/5 round pick for the tampering portion of it like that.
That’s not nothing when we talk about Michael Pettis Junior.
Yeah, absolutely.
The one thing I will bring up and II, I think the Miami Dolphins fans and specifically Steven Ross are like, wait a 2nd 5th round pick $250,000.
When I had Tom Brady on my boat, we got do a first round pick and I got do 1.5 million.
Well, what’s the difference?
And I get, there’s probably different levels of, oh, you, you reached out, you had him on your boat to talk and this was just a phone call, whatever.
But tampering is tampering.
Right.
Quarterback is quarterback.
I get it.
There’s nuance with that and it’s, it’s not apples to apples necessarily.
But if I’m Steven Ross, I’m making a call to Roger Goodell today saying what?
They got 1/5 I got, we gotta talk to first.
We, this is ridiculous.
I’m pretty upset if I’m the Dolphins as Steven Ross because look, tampering should be tampering, right.
Like if you, if you again, if you’re dumb enough to get caught, you deserve to pay the penalty as we’ve talked about though, the Falcons and how much of a penalty.
Yeah, it adds to the cost and fifth round picks Arent nothing.
You, there’s a reason teams hold on to these picks like gold but at the same time to land their guy if, if that helped at all getting in on her early with her cousins and, and you know, uh realistically tampering with him.
Well, it was probably worth it for them to give up that fifth round pick in addition to the $180 million contract.