With a new season beginning Sunday, the NFL is warning specific players and teams that it will not hold back on suspensions.
The NFL recently sent a memo to more than 20 players and the teams they play for, emphasizing the importance of safety and sportsmanship and warning them that they would face suspensions if there are any violations, league sources told ESPN.
The league believes this is a further attempt to try and make the game safer, sources said.
The players who received the notice have been disciplined and examined in the past. The NFL declined to provide a list of the players who received the notice, but all of them have been suspended over the past two seasons for on-field violations that the league will not tolerate this season.
Players suspended the past two seasons for on-field violations include Bills practice squad safety Kareem Jackson, Steelers safety Damontae Kazee, Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman, Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans and Patriots practice squad defensive tackle Trysten Hill.
Teams were also informed at the league meeting last month that the club remittance policy is back, effective immediately, according to sources. This means teams will face fines for players who are suspended for safety violations, personal conduct policy issues and drug suspensions. The NFL paused its remittance policy during the COVID-19 pandemic but has now reinstated it for the 2024 season.
“When a player receives a league penalty for a covered violation, the amount of the fine (or the amount of lost salary in the case of a suspension), up to a maximum of $75,000 per violation, will be counted toward his club's season total,” the league memo to teams said.
“For the 2024 season, the Remittance Policy will be triggered when a club's players incur fines or suspensions of more than $90,000. If that threshold is exceeded, the club will be required to remit an amount equal to the cumulative amount of fines for covered violations incurred by its players.
“For example, if a club's players incur a total of $175,000 in fines/suspensions for covered violations during the 2024 season, that club will be required to remit $175,000.”
