Last week, a rumor surfaced that Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts was discussing his No. 8 with Kirk Cousins, who was still technically under contract with the Minnesota Vikings at the time.

Pitts immediately shot the rumor down, which makes sense considering that the NFL’s legal tampering window for free agency did not begin until this past Monday.

Well, Cousins did ultimately agree to sign with the Falcons earlier this week, and during his introductory press conference on Wednesday, he mentioned that Pitts recruited him (per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). He added that Pitts’ pursuit of Cousins started “back a few weeks.”

So, perhaps Pitts and Cousins really did discuss who would wear No. 8?

Now, here is the thing: Pitts is allowed to recruit Cousins on his own. However, if the organization had knowledge of Pitts doing so, then tampering comes into play.

Of course, this is nearly impossible to prove, so even if Atlanta was aware that Pitts was talking to Cousins, the chances of the league actually hammering the Falcons with a punishment are slim to none.

That being said, Cousins should probably be more careful. His comments will, at the very least, catch the attention of the NFL, and it’s entirely possible that the league will launch an investigation.

Again, unless there is physical evidence that the Falcons actually committed tampering, nothing can be done, and it seems doubtful that any members of the front office would be dumb enough to have sent text messages, e-mails, etc. to Pitts regarding the subject.

Regardless, the fact that Pitts essentially brushed off the No. 8 rumors as nonsense looks questionable at this point. Obviously, there is a chance Pitts is telling the truth. Perhaps he recruited Cousins without ever bringing up his jersey number, and that was why he so aggressively dismissed it.

We’ll never know for sure.

What we do know, however, is that Kirk Cousins will be throwing passes to Kyle Pitts in September, and in the end, that’s all that really matters.

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