The legal tampering period begins today at noon. FA, Wednesday at 4PM

[top dawg]

Alrighty, Huddle, just another lesson on one of the more interesting sides of the business of the NFL. I know that I had basically forgotten about the legal tampering period that happens on the eve of free agency until this article jogged my memories of last year when I was hoping beyond hope that Dave Gettleman would surprise us, go out of character, and make even a modest splash in free agency.

For those that are interested, the legal tampering period is a time where agents and teams talk and perhaps set in place the groundwork for a contract. If I recall correctly, last year a few player and/or team agents---some possibly in cahoots with reporters---jumped the gun and released actual contract numbers before FA actually started. That is a no-no. I suspect that there will be no such contractual tidbits leaking out for the next couple of days, but you never know...Anyway, the rumors should begin in earnest today as pending free agents and teams are connected by the dots of whispers here and there.

Here is an except from NFL.com's "refresher" course.

 

"During the two-day period, all teams have the right to negotiate "all aspects of an NFL player contract" with the certified agent of an impending free agent. Figures can be exchanged on a deal, but nothing can be agreed to or announced before the start of free agency on Wednesday.

There are restrictions to this process. A free agent is not permitted to visit with a team other than their current team. Furthermore, a player cannot be in contact with a team that is not their own. Only the agent can communicate on the player's behalf during this period. If a player acts as his own agent, he's out of luck -- the NFL does not allow communication with another team before Wednesday."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000641702/article/what-is-the-legal-tampering-period

Enjoy Free Agency Eve, people. The NFL'S version of Christmas Eve. Christmas for NFL fans---free agency---is almost here! 

Of course, as Panthers fans, we'll probably have to wait for the after Christmas sales before the real excitement begins...

 

[Ricky Spanish]

So this is the *Wink Wink* period of free agency before the contracts come out.

[Mother Grabber]

except it's already been going on for the last week.

[top dawg]

7 minutes ago, Mother Grabber said:

except it's already been going on for the last week.

I doubt it. Too many teams and owners get testy when it comes to perceived unfair advantages by their competitors. Not to say that nothing happened, but probably no more than the usual casual communication. The threat of losing draft picks is  an adequate deterrent for most teams. 

[Mr. Scot]

42 minutes ago, Mother Grabber said:

except it's already been going on for the last week.

Never!

Just like it never happened that teams had contact with players before the old start time at midnight.  Those contracts that were signed at 12:05am were just negotiated and agreed upon at super speed.

 

[CarolinaNCSU]

Will be interesting to see if Gettleman does anything (doubt it) early on. I'd hope we see a KK extension as our big news for the first week of FA. 

[Daddy_Uncle]

Gettleman excitedly grabbin that green dollar tree basket. 

 

Just kidding. I feel like this will be our best free agent year under Gettleman. But he can find some good dollar store gems too

[bleedsgreenandgold]

19 minutes ago, Daddy_Uncle said:

Gettleman excitedly grabbin that green dollar tree basket. 

 

Just kidding. I feel like this will be our best free agent year under Gettleman. But he can find some good dollar store gems too

I have a feeling it will be a repeat of last year, Gettleman realizes the big contract on the horizon and what we will have to do to keep those guys. 

Sometimes you gotta eat a little bit of ramen so you can afford the tenderloin later on.

 

[top dawg]

The market is kinda sparse this year for our noted positions of need which may cause teams that wanna play to overpay for guys like Olivier Vernon, Marvin Jones, and even Eric Weddle. I hope not, but some cowboy with deep pockets is going to artificially inflate the market due to scarcity. I am afraid it will be business as usual at the Dollar Tree.

Maybe we can catch a deal on a TE.

 

[Peppers90 NC]

3 minutes ago, bleedsgreenandgold said:

I have a feeling it will be a repeat of last year, Gettleman realizes the big contract on the horizon and what we will have to do to keep those guys. 

Sometimes you gotta eat a little bit of ramen so you can afford the tenderloin later on.

 

Absolutely. There will be a lot of disappointed huddlers when we don't go full saintsretard on free agents just because we have a little cap space. We get out of a hole and our fans want to go right back in it.

[shaqattaq]

3 hours ago, top dawg said:

Enjoy Free Agency Eve, people. The NFL'S version of Christmas Eve. Christmas for NFL fans---free agency---is almost here! 

Of course, as Panthers fans, we'll probably have to wait for the after Christmas sales before the real excitement begins...

G-man must be a Jahovah's Witness

[Carl Spackler]

2 hours ago, bleedsgreenandgold said:

I have a feeling it will be a repeat of last year, Gettleman realizes the big contract on the horizon and what we will have to do to keep those guys. 

Sometimes you gotta eat a little bit of ramen so you can afford the tenderloin later on.

 

what the hell's wrong with ramen

[bleedsgreenandgold]

1 hour ago, Carl Spackler said:

what the hell's wrong with ramen

Absolutely nothing, it got me through college. I'm just saying you've got to make some sacrifices now to preserve a solid future.