The start of free agency isn’t until Wednesday, but teams can begin negotiating contracts on Monday afternoon. That’s when the legal tampering period opens, allowing agents of pending free agents to talk to teams about potential deals.
The Rams have five starters set to hit free agency, and if any of them are planning to test the waters, they can begin doing so at noon on Monday. The Rams would like to prevent that from happening with at least a few of those players – including Andrew Whitworth, Cory Littleton and Dante Fowler Jr. – but they can only do so by signing them to extensions beforehand.
So what exactly is the legal tampering period? Here’s a rough outline of the rules, detailing what’s allowed and what isn’t.
- March 16 at 12 p.m. ET to March 18 at 4 p.m. ET
- It applies to unrestricted free agents only. Teams cannot talk to restricted free agents during this period.
- Teams can negotiate “all aspects of an NFL player contract” until March 18, but not directly with the player. This means that teams can only negotiate with agents.
- If a player acts as his own agent, he cannot talk to other teams.
- Players cannot visit teams besides their own during this period.
- Violations of these rules can result in fines or a loss of draft picks.
The Rams don’t figure to be very active on the free-agent market this year, besides potentially re-signing a few of their own unrestricted free agents. As a result, there probably won’t be many reports surfacing between Monday and Wednesday about deals they’re working through with outside players.
Los Angeles is projected to have just about $20 million in cap space this offseason, among the least in the NFL. That could change with restructures and releases, but that’s where the team stands as of now.
Below is a complete list of the Rams’ unrestricted free agents this offseason.
- OLB Dante Fowler Jr.
- ILB Cory Littleton
- LT Andrew Whitworth
- DE Michael Brockers
- K Greg Zuerlein
- G/C Austin Blythe
- QB Blake Bortles
- ILB Bryce Hager
- S Marqui Christian
- WR Mike Thomas
