Atlanta Falcons docked 2025 5th-round draft pick, fined for tampering with Kirk Cousins

The NFL penalized the Atlanta Falcons for tampering with three players, including quarterback Kirk Cousins.

The cost to Atlanta is a fifth-round draft pick for 2025. Plus, the league fined the team $250,000 and general manager Terry Fontenot $50,000. The fines were for violating the anti-tampering policy specifically with Cousins, Darrell Mooney and Charlie Woerner.

The NFL is docking the #Falcons a 2025 fifth-round pick for violating the league’s anti-tampering policy with Kirk Cousins, Darnell Mooney and Charlie Woerner. The team is also being fined $250,000 and GM Terry Fontenot is being fined $50,000.

The violations are considered… pic.twitter.com/fa7cHnHXWu

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) June 13, 2024

Here’s what happened with Cousins, who is considered one of the best quarterbacks in the NFC. Cousins had played the last five seasons with the Vikings.

The NFL does allow a player’s representative to have contact with a team official for two days prior to the official start of free agency. But the player, himself, cannot engage with a coach or team official.

The Falcons officially signed Cousins to a four-year deal worth up to $180 million on the first day of official free agency, two days after his agent, Mike McCartney, announced on social media that Cousins and Atlanta had agreed to terms.

The NFL explained its position on the Falcons-Cousins situation in a statement to the media:

“While the policy permits clubs to engage with and negotiate all aspects of an NFL player contract with the certified agent of any prospective unrestricted free agent during the two-day negotiating period, any direct contact between the player and an employee or representative of the club is prohibited. This includes discussion of travel arrangements or other logistical matters, which the club acknowledges took place with regard to these three players.”

In Cousins’ first press conference as a Falcons quarterback, he mentioned that he’d been in contact with an athletic trainer. Cousins is coming off surgery to repair his Achilles tendon. It seems reasonable for a new quarterback to check in with a trainer. However, Cousins did it too early.

The Falcons and Cousins agreed to a deal almost immediately. Cousins received a four-year, $180 million contract, which the quarterback’s agent announced on social media two says before the start of official free agency.

The Falcons, in a statement to the media on Thursday, said the team “cooperated fully” with the NFL investigation. The team said it appreciated “the NFL’s thoroughness. As we do with every process, we will review how we operate and look for ways to improve.”