3 NFL teams broke the same rule in the offseason and they all have winning records

The Atlanta Falcons got a slap on the wrist on Thursday for “excessive levels of on-field physical contact” during offseason training activities (OTAs) in the offseason. As first-time offenders, the Falcons were docked three practices in the upcoming offseason.

That’s much lighter than the Seattle Seahawks’ punishment of a $400,000 fine and loss of a fifth-round pick for a third violation in the last five years.

“We take player safety very seriously and work hard to ensure that we are in compliance with league rules,” the Falcons said in a statement. “Although we are disappointed in the penalty, we respect the league’s decision and will make the necessary adjustments moving forward.”​

The Baltimore Ravens received the same punishment as the Falcons in May, for using pads during a rookie minicamp practice.

“There’s not one player or one coach in this room that should worry about it for one second,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh told reporters. “They shouldn’t have any anxiety about it because it’s on me. It’s completely me. It was my decision, it was my effort.”

In addition to the loss of three practices, Harbaugh received a $500,000 fine. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll — who certainly tried to skirt the rules, but didn’t break them as obviously as Harbaugh by putting players in pads — received a $200,000 fine.

The punishments for the three overzealous teams hasn’t seemed to slow them down, though. The Falcons, Seahawks, and Ravens are all 3-1, and if you asked Carroll, he might say there’s a connection.

“The first year [2012] they had some questions with how we worked,” Carroll said of the NFL when he received his second punishment in 2014. “And then we had a great year last year. Halfway through camp, we got a really good report about how we were working, so we stayed with it.”

The violations stem from teams pushing the limits of an offseason workout program agreed to in the collective bargaining agreement signed in 2011. It’s a 10-week, three-phase period with strict rules about no live contact between players.

Unsurprisingly, NFL coaches — namely, Carroll — have tried to skirt the rules as much as possible, and they’ll likely continue to do so.

The Seahawks, Falcons, and Ravens are all winning for much different reasons, so there isn’t a definitive reason to believe they all received an advantage. But as long as the teams getting caught for toying with the limit of the rules are the teams at the top of the standings, it’s going to be hard to dissuade coaches from continuing to test their luck.