The league announced last night that it had looked into the allegations that Atlanta Falcons head coach Matt Tafesse and his staff had violated the league rules in regards to free agent signings and player trades.
Now it seems those allegations were correct as the league commissioner’s office issued the following statement “We have taken action against the illegal trades and signings by the Atlanta Falcons. All transactions including those from the preseason up until week 2 of the regular season have been reverted. This includes sending Chris Long back to the St. Louis Rams after he acquired by the Falcons and traded to the Arizona Cardinals. ”
The leagues Free Agency and Trades Commissioner Max Farias also released a statement –
“We’ve had league coaches in the past try to manipulate and test the league’s rules. It is made very clear and it is the coaches responsibility to read and follow the rules….We want this league to be competitive and we want everyone to abide by the rules.”
Going forward the league has made it clear to the Falcons staff and coach that any trade or signing must be given approval by the league and failure to do so will result in an immediate removal from the league.
We reached out to coach Matt Tafesse and although he was not available by phone, he did send us a reply saying “My apologies. The Free agency rules weren’t really clear to me until that mass message [on playstation 4] was sent out about it last week. But again I apologize for my actions. It won’t happen again.”