Via PFT:
“The rules in this regard are clear, and they were reiterated in the April 21 memo from the league’s player personnel department. Once the draft begins, teams that aren’t on the clock can speak to representatives of players who were not yet drafted, but those conversations must focus only on non-financial matters.
The memo (a copy of which PFT has obtained) contains this message, which is the only passage in the three-page document that appears in bold print, with both underlining and yellow highlighting: “Although a club may inform a player or his agent that the club would be interested in the player’s services if the player is not drafted, no oral or written agreement can be made regarding a player’s future employment.”
“[The Panthers] felt like they had him signed, sealed and delivered,” Saints assistant G.M. Jeff Ireland said Monday, while appearing on the team’s official website’s podcast (via Duncan). “[The] agent wasn’t really talking to us, so we just decided we’d just go take him from them. . . . There’s a little bit of competitive juices flying between me and Sean about, ‘We want this player. We’re not going to let anybody take him from us.’”
Florio added, “the league office declined comment on the matter, but one league source predicted that the Saints and Panthers will be sanctioned for this violation.”
There are rules in place for a reason.
If there wasn’t, who knows how many back door deals would be taking place.
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