The NFL’s new league year - and the start of free agency - begins at 4 p.m. ET on Wednesday. At that time, players with contracts that expired at the end of the 2022 season are free to begin signing with any team. However, the agents of those players are free to begin negotiating with teams as of today. Welcome to the “legal tampering” period for 2023.
As of 12 p.m. ET on Monday, the league opened the negotiating period. This is a three-day build-up to the start of free agency, a period with the colloquial contradiction in terms name of the “legal tampering” period.