Last week, PFT reported that someone was calling teams claiming to represent Bears linebacker Roquan Smith in an effort to spur trade talks that would get him out of Chicago.
That was problematic because Smith currently doesn’t have an agent and also doesn’t have permission from the Bears to seek a trade. That would make any contact tampering and the NFL sent a memo to teams reminding them of that fact.
“Tampering is a corrosive problem that undermines both the integrity of the game and relationships among clubs,” the league said in the memo, per Tom Pelissero of NFL Media. “Accordingly, in the event that tampering is found, the Competition Committee has recommended the imposition of more stringent discipline than . . . imposed in prior years.”
The NFL recently stripped the Dolphins of a first-round pick and a third-round pick while fining team owner Stephen Ross and co-owner Bruce Beal after finding that they engaged in tampering while pursuing Tom Brady and Sean Payton.
Smith is in the final year of his rookie deal and requested a trade away from the Bears earlier this month after failing to get a new deal. He has not been practicing during training camp, but was activated from the physically unable to perform list last week.
