New England Patriots Accuse Houston Texans Of Tampering, File Charge With NFL

Tom Brady #12 of the New England Patriots

The NFL is expected to begin an open investigation against the Houston Texans in the coming week.

The reason? According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, on Wednesday, the New England Patriots filed tampering charges against the Texans over Houston’s alleged attempt to hire the Patriots Director of Player Personnel Nick Caserio.

On June 6, the day following the New England Patriots’ Super Bowl ring ceremony party at Robert Kraft‘s house, the Texans fired then-general manager Brian Gaine. Jack Easterby former Patriots team chaplain and current Texans executive vice president of team development, attended this party as did Caserio, who has worked for the Patriots as their Director of Player Personnel since 2008. Both Easterby and Caserio are represented by the same agent, Bob LaMonte. To think that Easterby and Caserio might have had a conversation regarding the Texans general manager job at this party does not sound at all far-fetched.

The Texans have requested permission from the Patriots to interview Caserio for their vacant general manager position, according to a source. To date, the Patriots have not granted the Texans this permission.

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The Patriots’ case against the Texans will mostly consist of the fact that Caserio and Easterby were together less than 24 hours after the news broke that Gaine was fired from the Texans. The Texans then quickly requested to interview Caserio for the position and have not spoken to another candidate since Sunday. Caserio and Easterby reportedly were seen talking together at the Patriots ring ceremony.

According to the NFL’s tampering policy, “Any interference by a member club with the employer-employee relationship of another club or any attempt by a club to impermissibly induce a person to seek employment with that club or with the NFL” is impermissible. Whether or not the Patriots case against the Texans is enough to warrant any punishment by the NFL remains to be seen.