The Kansas City Chiefs have been penalized a 2016 3rd round pick and a 2017 6th round pick for tampering during the process of signing wide receiver Jeremy Maclin. The Chiefs, head coach Andy Reid, and general manager John Dorsey were fined a total of $350,000.
Arrowhead Pride is covering it here.
We'll be rolling our eyes over here.
NFL stooge Troy Vincent issued a statement saying that "the discipline should be sufficient both to deter future violations and encourage cooperation in future investigations." Vincent also noted that the Chiefs were cooperative, which means that tampering could yield an even harsher penalty than a 3rd round pick.
The Chiefs are ticked off because "the penalties proposed in this case are inconsistent with discipline enforced in similar matters," per Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.
Does that sound familiar to anyone?
When the Lions tampered with Chiefs safety Jarrad Page in 2011, the Lions were penalized a 7th round pick and the two teams swapped 5th round picks.
When the 49ers tampered with Bears linebacker Lance Briggs in 2008, the 49ers were penalized a 5th round pick and the two teams swapped 3rd round picks.
When the Panthers were found tampering with footballs on the sidelines, they received a letter saying that they shouldn't do that.
Oh, wait, sorry, wrong issue at hand.
The Chiefs have a right to be upset because the Lions were fined the equivalent of a 6th round pick and the 49ers were docked the equivalent of a 4th round pick. A 3rd and a 6th for a team that was supposedly cooperative is absolutely insane and out of line with the prior penalty structure.
What makes this even more outrageous is that a team with an actual history of repeating tampering with players was fined a mere $100,000 for tampering with All Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis.
The Jets, who tampered with Patriots wide receiver Deion Branch in 2006 (but were cleared), and again with Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson in 2014 (uninvestigated), and again with Revis (fined a mere $100k), have shown a clear history of tampering violations and they've walked away with a candy bar and a free vacation from the league in comparison to what came down on the Chiefs.
And also, Troy, buddy, if you want to say that the penalty is supposed to serve as a deterrent for teams tampering with players, perhaps you might want to announce the penalty before the tampering period. You know, so the front office folks will know that they should be deterred from tampering.
Once again, the league has no idea how to penalize in a fair and consistent manner and now two teams are without important draft picks in the upcoming draft. Looks like Roger Goodell really is losing control of everything.