Bengals May Have Broken NFL Rules in Poaching Buccaneers Free Agent

The Cincinnati Bengals wasted no time finding help up front for quarterback Joe Burrow. The team signed free agent offensive lineman Alex Cappa to a four-year deal just one minute after the legal negotiation window opened on Monday, which has rightfully caused some eyebrows to be raised.

Bengals Free Agency

The thought of negotiating a massive contract in just 60 seconds is simply unrealistic. Everything surrounding this signing suggests that the Bengals were in talks with the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer before the negotiation window opened at noon. If that is the case, it would be a major slap in the face for the NFL.

Of course, illegal tampering is nothing new in this league. Agents are likely in talks with teams throughout the month of February, but being caught is a whole other ordeal. The Bengals certainly did not do a good job at keeping Cappa's contract under wraps given how quickly the news came out.

Keep an eye on whether or not the Bengals are reprimanded in any way. For now, they have found their starting guard for years to come. Cappa is a major addition to an offensive line that gave up the third-most sacks during the regular season (55.0) to go along with 15 more across four playoff games.

Larry Rupp is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Larry Rupp also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username phillyfan424. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.