The Pittsburgh Steelers’ highest-paid player is sticking up for one of the team’s lowest-paid players. Undrafted running back Jaylen Warren has basically been playing for free this season, fined nearly $50,000 on two separate occasions for illegally lowering his helmet into a defender. Neither play was flagged but the NFL has cracked down on that type of contact this season, leading several Steelers to be fined throughout the year. But no one has been hit as hard as Warren.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, T.J. Watt blasted the NFL for unjustly fining Warren.
“I think it’s extremely egregious the amount of money a guy like that’s being fined,” he said via ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. “It’s ridiculous.”
Warren was fined $48,556 after Week Two for lowering his helmet at the end of this catch-and-run against the Cleveland Browns, a seemingly innocuous play that ended in a monster fine. He appealed the fine and the NFL supposedly has a system in place to reduce fines for players who make small salaries but according to The Trib’s Joe Rutter, his amount was reduced to $39,000.
Even with the reduction, $39,000 is more than 1.5 times his weekly salary. Warren makes $24,166 per week (before taxes), meaning he loses nearly two game checks even after appeal.
Warren’s latest fine stems from this pass protection pickup in Week Seven’s win over the Los Angeles Rams. The NFL again tagged him for lowering his head into the linebacker and fined him the same amount as Week Two, $48,556.
Warren’s camp again said they plan to appeal but if it has the same outcome as the previous decision, he’ll still owe nearly $40,000, and again play for free for essentially two games. Meaning, Warren will have lost his game check for roughly four of the seven games he’s played in this season.
Per Rutter, Warren frustratingly said he doesn’t know what the league wants him to do.
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to hit dudes that are 350 pounds and 2 feet taller than me,” Warren told Rutter.
Given his lack of height, Warren tends to lean and charge into his blocks. And in many of these instances, the defender is also lowering his head on contact, creating the collision.
The high fine number is written into the CBA and increases by an agreed-upon percentage each season. For second and repeat offenders, the fine for illegally lowering their head is $48,556. But there’s little wiggle room for players who don’t make tens of millions of dollars. And there’s a lot less of them than there are guys like Warren, making at or near the league minimum.
At a baseline level, it’s admirable for the league to legislate out hits to the head but they aren’t handling the situation properly. Fining Warren is arguable. Fining him an amount not proportional to his salary is not.
