The Pittsburgh Steelers’ rule change that could alter how the legal tampering period occurs is gaining steam ahead of the annual league meetings.
The Steelers proposed that during the two-day legal tampering period before the start of the new league year on a Wednesday, teams would be able to have a one-hour video call with a free agent directly, rather than just with his representation.
On top of that, the team signing a player during the legal tampering period could arrange travel during that period rather than after the new league year.
Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider is completely in favor of it.
“Pittsburgh presented a rule change that says, during that negotiating period, you can get on an hour-long Zoom call with a prospect and the agent, which I think is a really cool idea,” Schneider said. “When you’re spending that kind of money, you really want to look somebody in the eye and have them talk through their injury history, or if they’ve had some issues off the field. You want to be able to really talk through it with a person.”
The byline the Steelers filed for the two new rules reads as the following:
“Allow teams to have one video or phone directly with a prospective free agent during the free agent contact period, and allow teams to arrange travel for the player the city during the contact period, as long as the travel does not occur until the new league year,” the statement read.
The Steelers’ proposal, however, could change how things would work in the legal tampering period. Only agents can talk to teams, while a prospective free agent can have zero contact with those teams. In addition, even with players for whom terms have been agreed to before the start of the new league year, travel can not be booked for those players.
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