A Note on Free Agency

There are rules in the NFL that representatives (player agents) for Unrestricted Free Agents cannot discuss contract terms with interested teams until after midnight Thursday (about 1 hour ago). Nonetheless, minutes after that deadline, Justin Smiley, formerly a G for the 49ers, signed a 5 year, 25 million dollar deal with the Miami Dolphins. You can't pretend that the Dolphins called his agent in the opening minute and offered a deal he couldn't refuse. These rules are constantly broken, especially at the combine, and rules that are not enforced shouldn't exist. The NFL should either eliminate these rules or alter them (allow discussions but no signings before the start of Free Agency for example).