NFL Free Agency 2023: Important information to know
Today is Monday, March 13th, and the legal tampering period begins today. Free agency officially kicks off on Wednesday the 15th, but what can happen between now and then?
Well, the legal tampering period essentially allows teams to talk to other players’ and their representation. They are not allowed to finalize and sign a contract, but they can do everything up until that point.
That’s basically why we see free agents immediately agreeing to deals when free agency opens on Wednesday. The legal tampering period allows them to do all of the work before the official period opens up.
So, the Patriots can open up negotiations with someone like Jawaan Taylor today at noon, eastern standard time. When noon hits, other teams can do the same thing as well. The Pats are well positioned this offseason to make some big splashes, and with the Miami Dolphins trading for Jalen Ramsey and the New York Jets being well positioned to land Aaron Rodgers, the Pats need to make something happen.
On March 15th at 4pm, the free agency window for 2023 opens and the big media names will begin spilling the beans on which players are signed to which teams. There should be a flurry of wave one signings and I’d hope that the Patriots could land a big player or two along the offensive line and in the secondary when free agency starts.
This is always the most exciting time of the year in my opinion. Teams who do well in free agency gear up for a run the following year. Just look at the Jacksonville Jaguars, for example. They were quite aggressive in free agency last year, hired the right coach, and ended up in the playoffs.