Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank made his first comments on Monday in regards to an investigation into the signing of quarterback Kirk Cousins, stating he does not think his team tampered with the process.
The comments, which appeared in a story by Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com, come almost two weeks after the NFL announced it is reviewing the timeline of the Falcons signing Cousins to a four-year deal worth up to $180 million. Cousins agreed to terms shortly after teams were allowed to start negotiating with unrestricted free agents on March 11.
“The tampering deal, we obviously don’t believe we tampered, and we shared all the information with the league,” Blank said at the NFL’s annual meeting Monday. “And they’ll review the process and the facts and they are in the middle of doing that, and whatever the result is, we’ll deal with it.”
Teams were permitted to talk directly with agents during a 52-hour negotiating window that began at noon on Monday, March 11, but could not speak to the player unless he has no agent and represents himself.
Cousins’ agent, Mike McCartney, announced on social media on March 11 that the quarterback and team had agreed to terms. But at his opening news conference on the Wednesday, Cousins seemed to indicate he had spoken to members of the Falcons before the official signing was allowed.
Cousins said: “There’s great people here. 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 PR I’m thinking, we got good people here. And that’s exciting to be a part of.”
Cousins wasn’t permitted to speak to anyone before 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
The Philadelphia Eagles are also being investigated after quickly striking a deal with two-time Pro Bowl running back Saquon Barkley soon after the negotiation period opened.
— With files from The Associated Press
