The Philadelphia Eagles have denied that general manager Howie Roseman contacted Saquon Barkley during the 52-hour "legal tampering" window where teams can only talk to agents, unless the player is representing himself or has no agent.
What prompted the denial were the words of Barkley's former coach at Penn State, James Franklin, this week when speaking about how the proximity of Happy Valley to Philadelphia played a role in the running back signing with the Eagles.
“For him now to come back and be able to play within the state in Philadelphia, [Barkley] said that was one of the first things that Howie [Roseman] said to him on the phone as part of his sales pitch to him,” Franklin said.