Every NFL player gets paid well. Some just better than others. Though most would kill to have a football player’s salary, your 9-5 job is more profitable than RB Jaylen Warren’s right now. Hit with a hefty $48,556 fine for lowering his helmet on a Week Two catch against the Cleveland Browns, Warren is playing for free now.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Warren tried to joke about his situation.
“The next two weeks I guess I’m playing for the love of the game,” he said as tweeted by the Associated Press’ Will Graves.
An undrafted free agent in 2022 who received a $12,000 signing bonus, Warren’s 2023 base salary is $870,000. A recent change now pays NFL players over 36 weeks instead of just in-season, meaning his weekly game check amounts to $24,166.67 (before taxes and fees). Do the quick math and, as Warren says, that $48,556 fine is essentially his two-week salary.
As reported last weekend, the fine stems from the end of his 30-yard catch-and-run against the Cleveland Browns. Though not flagged, he was fined for lowering his helmet on this Browns defender. The NFL has placed a serious emphasis on players lowering their helmet this season, leading to seemingly innocuous moments like this resulting in lighter wallets. Or in Warren’s case, an empty one.
As Graves noted and as Warren’s agent, David Canter, tweeted shortly after the fine was announced, his side is appealing. While appeals generally aren’t successful, LB Kwon Alexander had his preseason fine from a hit on a Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back rescinded. But he, along with S Damontae Kazee and LB Elandon Roberts, were also fined for lowering their helmets to make tackles against the Browns.
So why so much? The NFL has a set schedule of fines and fine amounts, set by the CBA that increases a certain percentage each season. All fine money goes to charity. Warren’s fine indicates he was a second/repeat offender, which dramatically increases the fine amount.
In appeal, his best recourse will be to argue the fine amount is disproportionate to his small salary. The NFL does have a carve out for players in these types of situations:
“On appeal, a player may assert, among other defenses, that any fine should be reduced because it is excessive when compared to the player’s expected earnings for the season in question. However, a fine may be reduced on this basis only if it exceeds 25 percent of one week of a player’s salary for a first offense, and 50 percent of one week of a player’s salary for a second offense.”
For Warren, it’s his entire salary so he should be able to get that number to, at the least, come down. But until then, he better get back to living the college life. Ramen noodles and using someone else’s Netflix account. The old saying is to play football for the love of the game. Right now, Warren literally is.
