Former New York Giants great and current CBS Sports Radio host, Tiki Barber, is speaking out about the contact Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel had with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who is scheduled to be a free agent next week.
“It is tampering,” Barber said on the Tiki & Tierney program. “Of course it is. They have a relationship. This is the point of the rule.”
Teams and their representatives are forbidden to reach out players before March 16, the beginning of the 48-hour “legal tampering” period leading up to free agency, which begins March 18 at 4:00 p.m. ET.
“Prior to three months ago, when he was under contract and playing for the New England Patriots and we had no idea – or even questioned – where he was going to play, they could have a text conversation or a phone conversation or a video chat or whatever the heck they want to do,” Barber said. “Now that we are on the precipice of free agency and Mike Vrabel is the head coach and Tom Brady is a soon-to-be free agent, this is tampering. This is what it was created for – to break up relationships that give certain teams an unfair advantage when it comes to free agency. Because you could easily – just like in the NBA – have these conversations.”
Barber went on to say that he really didn’t care since “until you’re basically working out a deal while having a friendly conversation.”
