Last March, NFL owners agreed to a one-year change of the legal tampering period that “permits clubs to have one video or phone call with no more than five prospective unrestricted free agent during the two-day negotiation period” and “permits clubs to make travel arrangements with such players upon agreeing to terms.”
This is going to give teams a chance to strike while the iron is hot in negotiations, in essence, allowing them to speed up the process and lower the risk of a player potentially having a change of heart.
With so many coaching changes around the NFL, it’s also a chance for those coaches to give their pitch to free agents who may have questions about the schemes they’ll run and the archetype of players they are seeking.
Granted, some of the negotiating legwork between teams and agents has already begun in secret, albeit unofficially and hardly legally:
The reality is that the one-year trial period of these changes probably won’t change the approach of teams all that much. Being able to speak to as many as five players directly during the two-day negotiation period has obvious benefits, but other teams will have those same advantages. It’s just a slightly quicker way for teams to get a feel for the player, and vice versa, and speeds up the timeline to get them into the building upon coming to an agreement.
But by the time the legal negotiation period opens on Monday at noon ET, most teams and free agents will already have their general game plans in place.
