The Tennessee Titans have asked the NFL to consider tampering charges against the Washington Redskins in the signing of free agent defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth, The (Nashville) Tennessean reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the situation.
According to the report, the Titans did not file a formal grievance with the NFL over the Redskins' quick agreement with Haynesworth, which was reached just hours after the league's free-agent period began. Instead, the team provided the league with newspaper articles and audio from a Washington, D.C.-area radio station -- evidence the Titans say implies Washington had improper contact with Haynesworth before free agency began at 12 a.m. on Feb. 27.
The NFL indicated to the Titans that it planned to look into the allegations, according to the report.
The Titans declined to comment on Wednesday, while NFL spokesman Greg Aiello would neither confirm nor deny that the team had contacted the league, according to The Tennessean. Haynesworth's agent, Chad Speck, could not be reached for comment, the newspaper reported.
"There are issues of tampering that come up from time to time and if we need to take some action then of course we announce that," Aiello said, according to the report. "Until then we don't comment on it.''
Haynesworth, considered the prize of the 2009 free-agent class, agreed to a $100 million contract with the Redskins five hours into free agency.
Haynesworth said last month that he didn't think the Redskins were guilty of tampering, according to the newspaper. He said a meeting between his agent and Redskins owner Daniel Snyder at the scouting combine a week before free agency began was about wide receiver Malcolm Kelly, another of Speck's clients.
"All I know is the Redskins called my agent at 11:04 p.m. Nashville time [12:04 a.m. ET] and they started negotiating then,'' he said, according to The Tennessean. "They weren't anywhere close in the first couple of hours and then they got serious. Chad worked the deal then and it worked out.''