On Friday, Rosenthal posted an item regarding comments from Lions G.M. Martin Mayhew suggesting that the team has an interest in running backs.
Not long thereafter, we began to hear from league insiders who thought that Mayhew possibly had admitted to communications that would constitute tampering.
“I’ve talked to agents for several players,” Mayhew said at a pre-draft press conference. “We’ve talked about trades. We’ve talked about trading for some players. We talk now about the draft. We’ll see how we come out of this.”
Though we love a good tampering story, we’re not prepared to conclude that Mayhew meant that the Lions had talked to agents about trades. Without permission from the club that currently holds a player’s rights, such discussions constitute tampering.
That said, it’s an example of the accuracy required when speaking on these matters, because comments like this will be scrutinized and analyzed and, if possible, criticized.