According To James Franklin, The Eagles May Have Tampered With Saquon Barkley And Goodell Should Give Them The Death Penalty If It's True

Kevin Sabitus. Getty Images.

ESPN- The Philadelphia Eagles have denied impermissible contact between general manager Howie Roseman and running back Saquon Barkley during the negotiating window before the start of free agency. Barkley, a Penn State alum and Pennsylvania native, agreed to terms with the Eagles on a three-year, $37.75 million contract that includes $26 million fully guaranteed at signing. His former coach at Penn State, James Franklin, suggested Roseman spoke to Barkley directly during the "legal tampering" period, which is not allowed.

Said Franklin: "For him now to come back and be able to play within the state, in Philadelphia, he said that was one of the first things that Howie said to him on the phone as part of his sales pitch to him was not only the Philadelphia Eagles and that but obviously the connection with Penn State and the fan base as well." Teams are not allowed to talk directly to players during the negotiating window unless the player represents himself. An Eagles spokesperson said that all recruiting done by the team is facilitated through the agent.

KICK THEM OFF THE TOUR, ROG!!! As a longtime employee here at Barstool SPORTS, I have seen the fury Roger Goodell can unleash on a team if he feels like they didn't follow the rulebook to a tee in his eyes (Search #Deflategate for prime examples if our search is actually working right now). 

Which is why that silly son of a bitch has to drop the hammer on the Eagles if these comments are true, which I would imagine is the case since James Franklin doesn't seem like a guy who would just make up a story just for shits and giggles. If the NFL doesn't uphold the rules of the legal tampering period, what's the point of having a legal tampering period? What's the point of having any rules if Howie Roseman is just wiping his ass with the word "legal" during one of the biggest days on the NFL calendar? 

Not only did the Eagles disrespect The Shield by allegedly overstepping the commish's guidelines for tampering with a division rival's player,  but they have a history of pulling shady shit against that division rival like when they straight up tanked the second half against the Commanders to keep the Giants out of the playoffs then three months later made a trade with the supposed hated Dallas Cowboys just to jump the Giants and take DeVonta Smith since he was the clear number 1 target on Big Blue's big board. If a team pulled this shit in a fantasy football league, they'd be kicked out. The same thinking should apply for the highest football league in the universe.

I am a believer in the three strikes you're out policy in all aspects of life let alone sports, which is why I am proposing the death penalty to the Eagles. I know it seems extreme, but an example has to be made to the other NFL teams. I'm sure the owners will be against it at first, but once those greedy fucks realize they will be able to split the giant revenue pie 31 ways instead of 32, they will give the death penalty the green light instantly.

There is admittedly a part of me that hopes nothing happens to the Eagles since I've been told a bazillion times since the 2018 NFL Draft how dumb it is to invest heavily in a running back and I would love nothing more than to see the Eagles handcuffed from making monster moves every free agency because they overspent on a running back just to fuck with the Giants. But as Omar said in the gif above, a man's got to have a code and that is the case even for a sniffling weasel of a man like Roger Goodel (Plus the thought of Saquon's superhuman abilities being unlocked in Philly by having an offensive line that actually knows how to block makes me equally sad and mad).

UPDATE: Goodell is officially having his stooges look into this. Do the right thing Rog and wipe that football team from Philadelphia off the NFL map!

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P.S. Kirk Cousins of all people allegedly violating the legal tampering period is so fucking funny to me because he seems like the one player in the entire NFL that would yell at his agent for even insinuating that they should break a stupid rule that nobody actually follows.