The Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LIX, the NFL Scouting Combine is in the rearview mirror and now it’s time for the next main event: free agency. Up first is the legal tampering period, which leads directly into free agency. When does it all happen? Let’s take a look.
On Monday, March 10 at noon ET, teams are permitted to contact and begin negotiating contracts with the agents of players who are unrestricted free agents. This is the legal tampering period. It ends at 4 p.m. ET on March 12 — which is when the free agency signing period officially begins. That is when all of the reported contracts you will see beginning at noon on March 10 can become official. That 4 p.m. ET mark is also when the 2025 League Year officially begins, and the trading period opens up for NFL teams.
It’s important to note that during the legal tampering period, players looking for new deals can only negotiate contracts with a team through certified representation (an agent). The Atlanta Falcons were forced to forfeit a 2025 fifth-round pick this year, and pay a $250,000 fine because quarterback Kirk Cousins revealed in his introductory press conference that he spoke with the Falcons’ head athletic trainer and their head of public relations before he was allowed to.
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