NFL legal tampering period begins today

NFL free agency is UNofficially scheduled to begin today, Monday, March 15 at 12:00 PM Eastern. In a naive attempt to curb all the illegal tampering that goes on before free agency, the NFL has decided to designate a legal tampering period for the ninth year in a row. Actual NFL free agency does not officially begin until Wednesday, March 17 at 4:00 PM Eastern.

Here are the important things to remember regarding legal tampering:

• Agents can negotiate numbers and agree to terms, but players can not actually officially sign contracts. Hence why we sometimes see players back out of deals. (See: Eagles legend Frank Gore.)

• Teams can talk to agents, not directly with players.

• Players can’t visit other teams’ facilities.

• The window only applies to unrestricted free agents, not restricted free agents or exclusive-rights free agents.

The following Philadelphia Eagles players can begin negotiating with other teams at noon today since they’re set to be unrestricted free agents:

OT Jason Peters

S Jalen Mills

QB Nate Sudfeld

CB Nickell Robey-Coleman

DE Vinny Curry

DT Hassan Ridgeway

TE Richard Rodgers

CB Cre’Von LeBlanc

LB Duke Riley

RB Corey Clement

S Rudy Ford

LB Nathan Gerry

P Cameron Johnston

TE Josh Perkins

The Eagles can also begin negotiating with free agents from other teams starting at noon. Here’s a handy list of 38 players with connections to Philly. Obviously, the Eagles aren’t expected to be super aggressive spenders due to their limited cap situation.