As you have almost certainly heard by now, the Detroit Lions are trading Matthew Stafford to the Los Angeles Rams in exchange for Jared Goff and a trio of draft picks.
But, did the Rams, specifically their head coach Sean McVay, break league rules while trying to land Stafford?
On Monday, Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated tweeted out that in the days leading up to the trade, McVay and Stafford just so happened to run into each other and proceeded to have a conversation in Cabo.
One add-on here: In the days leading up to the trade, it didn't hurt that Stafford and McVay had run into each other, and talked in Cabo. The two had a casual relationship beforehand. But the wild coincidence helped comfort level-wise for the Rams.
(B/c this IS a big swing.) https://t.co/oidzfLPsbj
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) February 1, 2021
As pointed out by plenty of people, this could be a problem for the Rams as it could be looked at by the league (and teams in the league) as tampering.
Now, the Rams absolutely would be allowed to talk to Stafford if (and only if) they followed league protocol and received permission from the Lions ahead of time.
From Pro Football Focus:
“Under no circumstances should a new club rely upon any written or oral representation by a player or his agent that he has received permission to enter into discussions for a trade for contract,” the memo states. “Nor should a new club rely upon a letter from the employer club to the agent or player granting such permission since employer clubs typically reserve the right to withdraw permission at any time, and may have already done so. Permission must be received directly from the employer club.”
If other teams who were interested in trading for Stafford feel like the Rams were given an unfair advantage by having the meeting in Cabo, they could absolutely go to the league and there would be an investigation that could result in the Rams losing draft picks and/or being fined.
Stay tuned!