Penn State head football coach James Franklin may need to extend an apology to the Philadelphia Eagles in the coming days.

On Thursday, the NFL announced that it was opening an investigation into whether the Eagles tampered with running back, and former Penn State star, Saquon Barkley.

News broke on Monday that Barkley agreed to a 3-year, $37.75M deal with the Eagles, but nothing could be made official until the league new year started on Wednesday.

In the meantime, Franklin was asked about his former star running back returning to Pennsylvania during a press conference and said, “He (Barkley) said that (returning to Pennsylvania) was one of the first things Howie (Roseman) said to him on the phone as kind of his sales pitch to him.”

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Penn State coach James Franklin says Saquon Barkley told him Howie Roseman‘s first sales pitch to Saquon in free agency was coming back home to PA pic.twitter.com/kxCq6SckVl

— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 13, 2024

What’s Wrong with What James Franklin Said?

Why is this a problem? Well, team representatives are not allowed to contact free agents first hand before the league new year begins. Teams are only permitted to communicate with player’s representatives and agents during the legal tampering period.

Franklin’s statement makes it sound like Roseman, the Eagles GM, spoke directly to Barkley before Wednesday.

While pretty much every team does this, the fact Franklin said this publicly put an easy target on the back of the Eagles.

If found guilty, the Eagles could potentially owe Barkley’s former team, the New York Giants, a draft pick, along with a possible fine.

MORE: NFL Coaches, Executives Weigh in on Saquon Barkley to Eagles

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Alec Whitaker

Penn State Football Recruiting Analyst at NittanyCentral

Alec Whitaker is a 2021 graduate of Penn State University earning a BA in Journalism and a minor in History. He is an avid sports fan and spends his free time co-hosting podcasts on his YouTube channel, Whitaker Media. Prior to arriving at NittanyCentral, Whitaker covered Penn State Football and Penn State Football recruiting for VictoryBellRings.com, part of the FanSided network.

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