Herm's not happy with Buccaneers

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards didn’t come right out and say it on Monday, but he implied that some teams might have violated league rules in their pursuit of free agents. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ signing of center Jeff Faine came up in the conversation, according to a report in the Kansas City Star.

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Herm Edwards parlayed his work with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers into a head coaching job with the New York Jets.

But right now in Kansas City, Edwards isn’t exactly thrilled with the Bucs — or the St. Louis Rams, for that matter.

The Kansas City Star reported that Edwards, who was speaking Monday at an announcement for his football camp, said the Chiefs were as “aggressive as the rules allowed” in trying to sign Faine and former Seattle kicker Josh Brown.

The Chiefs missed out on both players. In fact, the Chiefs were unable to secure a meeting with either player.

Both signed with their new teams hours after free agency began. Faine received a $37.5 million deal from the Bucs. Brown signed a lucrative deal with the Rams.

NFL rules state that teams are prohibited from contacting potential free agents until the new league year begins, which in this case was midnight eastern time on Feb. 29.

Faine told Tampa-based news outlets last week that the Bucs contacted him shortly after free agency began.

Edwards isn’t so sure that some teams didn’t jump the gun.

“There were probably some deals done before (the start of the league year),” Edwards told the Star. “We didn’t cheat. We abided by the rules. That’s how you’re supposed to do it and that’s what we did.”

Edwards did not mention the Bucs by name. But when a Star reporter asked about Faine and the Bucs, Edwards said, “You’d have to ask Tampa. I don’t know what Tampa did.”

The NFL has already ruled on one tampering case this spring, as the San Francisco 49ers have forfeited a fifth-round pick for their pursuit of free-agent linebacker Lance Briggs, who eventually re-signed with the Chicago Bears.

According to two media reports, no tampering charges have been filed against the Buccaneers.

Want to read the whole story? Click here for a link to the Star’s report.

Did you miss Matthew Postins’ second Buccaneers-only Mock Draft? Click here to read how Postins shook up the Buccaneers’ draft strategy.

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Matthew Postins covers the Buccaneers for BucsBlitz.com and the Charlotte Sun-Herald in Port Charlotte, Fla. An award-winning member of the Pro Football Writers Association, he appears frequently on Scot Brantley Show from 3-6 p.m. weekdays on WHBO 1470-AM in Tampa-Clearwater.