The New York Jets and New England Patriots are in a humorous battle regarding tampering charges over Darrelle Revis, with the Jets filing the latest chapter in the saga.
Back in December while Revis was playing for the Pats, Jets owner Woody Johnson said the team would love to have the cornerback back on their team. The Pats filed tampering charges in response and, what do you know? Revis ended up signing with the Jets in free agency, choosing the airplane over the minutemen.
On Tuesday, the Jets pulled a stunt of their own by filing tampering charges against the Patriots for comments made by Bob Kraft at the owners meetings on Monday, Pro Football Talk first reported. What did Kraft do that was so wrong? He said the Pats would have liked to have kept Revis.
“We thought we made a very competitive offer,” Kraft said. “I speak as a fan of the New England Patriots. We wanted to keep him. We wanted him in our system. We have certain disciplines [with spending]. We had hoped it worked out. It didn’t. … But as a fan, and in March and April, I hate to lose him.
“That’s the team that drafted [Revis]. I think he feels a great commitment there. So we understand going back. We’re sorry he didn’t stay with us. … We understand that he’s a great player. The fan in me wishes he were still with us.”
That seems like a natural thing for an owner to say about a great player who chose to sign with another team. The circumstances are completely different when a player is under contract with one team and another owner expresses interest in them.
As an FYI, here is how the league defines tampering.
The term tampering, as used within the National Football League, refers to any interference by a member club with the employer-employee relationship of another club or any attempt by a club to impermissibly induce a person to seek employment with that club or with the NFL.
The purpose of the NFL Anti-Tampering Policy, as it applies to tampering with players, is to protect member clubs’ contract and negotiating rights, and, at the same time, to allow the intra-League competitive systems devised for the acquisition and retention of player talent (e.g., college draft, waiver system, free-agent rules under an operative collective bargaining agreement) to operate efficiently. As the Policy applies to tampering with non-players, its purpose is to strike a balance between protecting the rights and maintaining the organizational stability of employer clubs, and providing realistic advancement opportunities for employees if other clubs desire their services. Any public or private statement of interest, qualified or unqualified, in another club’s player to that player’s agent or representative, or to a member of the news media, is a violation of this Anti-Tampering Policy. (Example of a prohibited comment: “He’s an excellent player, and we’d very much like to have him if he were available, but another club holds his rights.”) All clubs should be aware that improper disclosure of confidential trade discussions with another club may be a violation of this section on prohibited public statements.
Do you think Kraft’s comments qualify as tampering? We don’t.
