National Football League

When is the 2017 NFL free agency tampering window?

Updated Mar. 5, 2020 2:19 a.m. ET

Fansided, Matt Verderame/Fansided

The NFL allows teams to speak with free agents before they are allowed to sign. It doesn’t lead to a ton of clarity, and that’s why we’re here.

As we enter the offseason, there are only two things we need to be thinking about. The upcoming free agency period, and the NFL Draft. With the draft still a solid two and a half months away, let’s narrow our focus onto free agency.

Teams only have little more than a week to rest before the franchise tag period begins on February 15. Clubs then have until March 1 to declare which player they want to use their respective tags on, if any. On March 7, all 32 teams are permitted to make contact with any free agent in the NFL, but can’t sign them to a contract unless the player is their own free agent. This is the beginning of the tampering period, which lasts until March 9 at 4 p.m. EST.

Typically, the tampering period is when teams begin throwing around huge sums of money. Should Kirk Cousins hit the market, we might see a bidding war to end all bidding wars. The same won’t be said for Ryan Fitzpatrick, but I digress.

It bears repeating that no player can sign with a team other than his current club until March 9 at the aforementioned time. However, there can be agreements in principle.