German_Force » Only a few minutes into the legal tampering period

Jason McCourty Jerseys 2019 , a deal was reported."In 2013, the NFL introduced the legal tampering period: the three-day window leading up to free agency allowed players about to hit the open market to enter contract negotiations with all of the league’s clubs, not just the ones still holding their rights until the official start of the new league year. The goal of creating this window was to crack down on illegal tampering taking place — and it looks as if it had another effect as well.Contracts get negotiated in a record time now, with the four-year, $66 million dollar deal signed by Trent Brown as the latest example. Per rule, the Oakland Raiders were not allowed to enter contract negotiations with Brown — whose deal with the New England Patriots does not expire until Wednesday, March 13, 4:00 p.m. ET — until today at noon Eastern. That is when the aforementioned legal tampering window opened.Only nine minutes later, however, his camp and the Raiders have apparently already gone over all the details of the record-breaking deal that includes $37.5 million in guarantees and makes Brown the highest-paid offensive tackle in the league on a per-year basis: at 12:09 p.m. ET, ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the report that Brown will sign a deal with Oakland once his old one with the Patriots has expired in two days.Considering that NFL contracts have dozens of pages that cover everything from signing bonuses to injury stipulations, this is an impressive feature. Or could it be that — Gasp! — the contract was already worked on and basically finalized before the legal tampering window even opened earlier today? Against the rules agreed upon by all of the NFL’s teams? Is such a thing possible?! Yes, yes it is.To leave the realm of sarcastic speculation, the NFL’s legal tampering period is a fine theoretical idea that appears to have little actual meaning to the clubs. While contracts still cannot be officially signed until the start of the new league year, the scramble for the best players about to hit the market does not suddenly start at 12:00 p.m. ET when clubs are permitted to start negotiating with free agents to be.The NFL is not the rush for land portrayed in movies such as 1992’s Far and Away, but rather a process that has been established for years — one that effectively heats up at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. While teams are not yet allowed to enter negotiations at this point, it would be naive to think that they are not at least trying to get a feel for certain players and how their markets will develop.Trent Brown is a perfect example for this: the Patriots likely knew that he will be gone White Adrian Clayborn Jerseys , while the Raiders were able to establish themselves as the front-runners and eventual winners of the sweepstakes. Could it be that Brown and Oakland’s front office worked out a deal in only nine minutes? Well, yes, but not one as massive as an NFL contract — especially with other teams in the market for starting-caliber tackles as well.Ultimately, Brown’s soon-to-become official contract with the Raiders shows us one thing: the NFL’s legal tampering period is a nice idea in theory, but one that hardly has any meaning in the real world of professional football. Teams negotiate either way. But since all of the organizations play under the same fuzzy set of rules, it seems to be okay... that is until the Patriots somehow find a way to take advantage of it, right? Read more: Patriots fans like the Mike Pennel signing, are more critical of the wide receiver acquisitions"WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementNFL Free AgencyPatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots Free Agency CoverageRecapping the first week of free agency from the Patriots’ perspectiveNew,3commentsRead more: Patriots fans like the Mike Pennel signing, are more critical of the wide receiver acquisitionsEDTShareTweetShareShareRecapping the first week of free agency from the Patriots’ perspectiveIsaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY SportsDuring the season, Monday is usually the day to look back and assess what happened in the NFL over the course of the weekend. And while the 2019 regular season will not open until early September, there are still plenty of opportunities to analyze what is going on around the league — especially now, that the first week of free agency is in the books. Let’s quickly recap it to see what the New England Patriots did or did not do.Free agents re-signed by the PatriotsNew England entered the offseason with 17 players headed towards unrestricted free agency. So far during the process, the reigning world champions brought only three members of their 2018 roster back into the fold:Despite starting slowly into his first season with the Patriots, Jason McCourty carved out a role as a starting cornerback opposite All-Pro Stephon Gilmore and played some outstanding football late in the year. Phillip Dorsett and John Simon, meanwhile, were predominately role players. That being said Adrian Clayborn Jerseys 2019 , they were still valuable rotational members of New England’s 2018 team and could see their roles grow next season.Free agents signed by other teamsWhile New England re-signed three players, double that left the team via free agency. And considering some of the contracts they were handed, the club should see at least two compensatory draft picks headed its way in 2020:The biggest names on the list of free agency losses are undoubtably Trey Flowers and Trent Brown, who joined the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, respectively. Given the size of their contacts, the two will likely net New England two third-round picks next year — all while leaving big holes to fill at their positions, however.The rest of the group consists of de facto starting defensive tackle Malcom Brown, kickoff returner and depth wide receiver/running back Cordarrelle Patterson, primary swing tackle LaAdrian Waddle, and oft-injured cornerback Eric Rowe. Brown’s contributions will likely be replaced by the recently acquired Mike Pennel, while the roles of Patterson and Waddle have no clear-cut successors yet. Rowe is the least worrisome loss of the six.Free agents still on the open marketThe biggest group among New England’s free agency class are the players still unsigned as eight man have yet to join a team. Some of them are prime candidates to return to the Patriots at one point:While Chris Hogan and Danny Shelton have reportedly been in discussion with other clubs, the remainder of the group is having a quiet free agency period so far. Of course, two of the players — punter Ryan Allen and kicker Stephen Gostkowski — are prime candidates to return to New England soon.Outside free agents acquired by the PatriotsAs usual, New England headed into free agency rather slowly before making a flurry of moves further down the line. In total, six players were brought in:As noted above, Mike Pennel is expected to help fill the role formerly held by Malcom Brown — which in turn could make him the free agency acquisition with the biggest potential to make an impact early on. The others, meanwhile White Jeremy Hill Jerseys , are mostly depth and special teams options: ex-Patriot Brandon Bolden and Terrence Brooks project as core members of the kicking game units, withBruce Ellington and Maurice Harris fighting for jobs at wide receiver. Matt LaCosse, meanwhile, could fill the role as the club’s top blocking tight end formerly held by Dwayne Allen.Players traded for by the PatriotsWhile the Patriots were not as busy on the trade market as last year, they still made one transaction:Acquiring Bennett was first announced before the legal tampering period even began one week ago, but the move was not made official until Wednesday — that’s when the market opened. The 33-year-old will help the Patriots replace Trey Flowers’ production and role as a starting edge defender.Restricted free agents tenderedBefore the start of free agency, New England also tendered both of its restricted free agents:Jonathan Jones saw inconsistent playing time in 2018, but proved himself a valuable chess piece during the Patriots’ playoff run. Josh Gordon, meanwhile, was also tendered despite his future still in doubt: the wide receiver, who served as one of New England’s top-two when available last year, remains indefinitely suspended. However, it seems as if the club has him in its plans for at least the 2019 season.Contract options exercisedNew England had one player on its roster who had an option clause in his deal heading into 2019, aOnly a few minutes into the legal tampering period Jason McCourty Jerseys 2019 , a deal was reported."In 2013, the NFL introduced the legal tampering period: the three-day window leading up to free agency allowed players about to hit the open market to enter contract negotiations with all of the league’s clubs, not just the ones still holding their rights until the official start of the new league year. The goal of creating this window was to crack down on illegal tampering taking place — and it looks as if it had another effect as well.Contracts get negotiated in a record time now, with the four-year, $66 million dollar deal signed by Trent Brown as the latest example. Per rule, the Oakland Raiders were not allowed to enter contract negotiations with Brown — whose deal with the New England Patriots does not expire until Wednesday, March 13, 4:00 p.m. ET — until today at noon Eastern. That is when the aforementioned legal tampering window opened.Only nine minutes later, however, his camp and the Raiders have apparently already gone over all the details of the record-breaking deal that includes $37.5 million in guarantees and makes Brown the highest-paid offensive tackle in the league on a per-year basis: at 12:09 p.m. ET, ESPN’s Adam Schefter broke the report that Brown will sign a deal with Oakland once his old one with the Patriots has expired in two days.Considering that NFL contracts have dozens of pages that cover everything from signing bonuses to injury stipulations, this is an impressive feature. Or could it be that — Gasp! — the contract was already worked on and basically finalized before the legal tampering window even opened earlier today? Against the rules agreed upon by all of the NFL’s teams? Is such a thing possible?! Yes, yes it is.To leave the realm of sarcastic speculation, the NFL’s legal tampering period is a fine theoretical idea that appears to have little actual meaning to the clubs. While contracts still cannot be officially signed until the start of the new league year, the scramble for the best players about to hit the market does not suddenly start at 12:00 p.m. ET when clubs are permitted to start negotiating with free agents to be.The NFL is not the rush for land portrayed in movies such as 1992’s Far and Away, but rather a process that has been established for years — one that effectively heats up at the scouting combine in Indianapolis. While teams are not yet allowed to enter negotiations at this point, it would be naive to think that they are not at least trying to get a feel for certain players and how their markets will develop.Trent Brown is a perfect example for this: the Patriots likely knew that he will be gone White Adrian Clayborn Jerseys , while the Raiders were able to establish themselves as the front-runners and eventual winners of the sweepstakes. Could it be that Brown and Oakland’s front office worked out a deal in only nine minutes? Well, yes, but not one as massive as an NFL contract — especially with other teams in the market for starting-caliber tackles as well.Ultimately, Brown’s soon-to-become official contract with the Raiders shows us one thing: the NFL’s legal tampering period is a nice idea in theory, but one that hardly has any meaning in the real world of professional football. Teams negotiate either way. But since all of the organizations play under the same fuzzy set of rules, it seems to be okay... that is until the Patriots somehow find a way to take advantage of it, right? Read more: Patriots fans like the Mike Pennel signing, are more critical of the wide receiver acquisitions"WhitePatriots News Opinion and Analysis Contribute! FanPostsFanShotsAbout the Site List of Patriots Twitter AccountsWrite For Pats Pulpit!New User Welcome and Commenting GuideCommunity GuidelinesMastheadTopics Patriots Off-Season CoveragePatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots NewsPatriots Draft CoverageSportfolio ManagementNFL Free AgencyPatriots Opinion/AnalysisPatriots Free Agency CoverageRecapping the first week of free agency from the Patriots’ perspectiveNew,3commentsRead more: Patriots fans like the Mike Pennel signing, are more critical of the wide receiver acquisitionsEDTShareTweetShareShareRecapping the first week of free agency from the Patriots’ perspectiveIsaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY SportsDuring the season, Monday is usually the day to look back and assess what happened in the NFL over the course of the weekend. And while the 2019 regular season will not open until early September, there are still plenty of opportunities to analyze what is going on around the league — especially now, that the first week of free agency is in the books. Let’s quickly recap it to see what the New England Patriots did or did not do.Free agents re-signed by the PatriotsNew England entered the offseason with 17 players headed towards unrestricted free agency. So far during the process, the reigning world champions brought only three members of their 2018 roster back into the fold:Despite starting slowly into his first season with the Patriots, Jason McCourty carved out a role as a starting cornerback opposite All-Pro Stephon Gilmore and played some outstanding football late in the year. Phillip Dorsett and John Simon, meanwhile, were predominately role players. That being said Adrian Clayborn Jerseys 2019 , they were still valuable rotational members of New England’s 2018 team and could see their roles grow next season.Free agents signed by other teamsWhile New England re-signed three players, double that left the team via free agency. And considering some of the contracts they were handed, the club should see at least two compensatory draft picks headed its way in 2020:The biggest names on the list of free agency losses are undoubtably Trey Flowers and Trent Brown, who joined the Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders, respectively. Given the size of their contacts, the two will likely net New England two third-round picks next year — all while leaving big holes to fill at their positions, however.The rest of the group consists of de facto starting defensive tackle Malcom Brown, kickoff returner and depth wide receiver/running back Cordarrelle Patterson, primary swing tackle LaAdrian Waddle, and oft-injured cornerback Eric Rowe. Brown’s contributions will likely be replaced by the recently acquired Mike Pennel, while the roles of Patterson and Waddle have no clear-cut successors yet. Rowe is the least worrisome loss of the six.Free agents still on the open marketThe biggest group among New England’s free agency class are the players still unsigned as eight man have yet to join a team. Some of them are prime candidates to return to the Patriots at one point:While Chris Hogan and Danny Shelton have reportedly been in discussion with other clubs, the remainder of the group is having a quiet free agency period so far. Of course, two of the players — punter Ryan Allen and kicker Stephen Gostkowski — are prime candidates to return to New England soon.Outside free agents acquired by the PatriotsAs usual, New England headed into free agency rather slowly before making a flurry of moves further down the line. In total, six players were brought in:As noted above, Mike Pennel is expected to help fill the role formerly held by Malcom Brown — which in turn could make him the free agency acquisition with the biggest potential to make an impact early on. The others, meanwhile White Jeremy Hill Jerseys , are mostly depth and special teams options: ex-Patriot Brandon Bolden and Terrence Brooks project as core members of the kicking game units, withBruce Ellington and Maurice Harris fighting for jobs at wide receiver. Matt LaCosse, meanwhile, could fill the role as the club’s top blocking tight end formerly held by Dwayne Allen.Players traded for by the PatriotsWhile the Patriots were not as busy on the trade market as last year, they still made one transaction:Acquiring Bennett was first announced before the legal tampering period even began one week ago, but the move was not made official until Wednesday — that’s when the market opened. The 33-year-old will help the Patriots replace Trey Flowers’ production and role as a starting edge defender.Restricted free agents tenderedBefore the start of free agency, New England also tendered both of its restricted free agents:Jonathan Jones saw inconsistent playing time in 2018, but proved himself a valuable chess piece during the Patriots’ playoff run. Josh Gordon, meanwhile, was also tendered despite his future still in doubt: the wide receiver, who served as one of New England’s top-two when available last year, remains indefinitely suspended. However, it seems as if the club has him in its plans for at least the 2019 season.Contract options exercisedNew England had one player on its roster who had an option clause in his deal heading into 2019, and it was — to nobody’s surprise — picked up:Slater appeared in all 19 of New England’s games in 2018 and was on the field for 67.5% of the club’s special teams snaps. Once again proving himself one of the best gunners in all of football, he finished the season with 14 tackles and fielded multiple kicks to give the Patriots’ defense good field position — twice that happened during the club’s playoff run. Seeing the club pick up his option was just a formality.
nd it was — to nobody’s surprise — picked up:Slater appeared in all 19 of New England’s games in 2018 and was on the field for 67.5% of the club’s special teams snaps. Once again proving himself one of the best gunners in all of football, he finished the season with 14 tackles and fielded multiple kicks to give the Patriots’ defense good field position — twice that happened during the club’s playoff run. Seeing the club pick up his option was just a formality.