Sources – NFL warns players, teams over safety violations

Now that the new season has begun, the NFL is warning specific players and teams that they will not hesitate to issue suspensions.

The NFL recently sent a memo to more than 20 players and the teams they play for stressing the importance of safety and sportsmanship and warning them that they could be suspended if any violations are committed, league sources told ESPN.

According to sources, the league believes this is an additional effort to make the sport safer.

The players who received notices have been disciplined and investigated in the past. The NFL declined to provide a list of which players were notified, but all have been suspended over the past two seasons for on-field violations that the league will not tolerate this season.

Players suspended over the past two seasons for on-field violations include Buffalo Bills practice squad safety Kareem Jackson, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Damontae Kazee, Los Angeles Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman, Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans and New England Patriots defensive tackle Trysten Hill.

Teams were also informed at last month’s league meeting that the club remittance policy is back effective immediately, sources said. That means teams will be fined for players suspended for safety violations, personal conduct issues and drug suspensions. The NFL paused the remittance policy during the COVID-19 pandemic but has reinstated it for the 2024 season.

“When a player is disciplined in the league for a Covered Infraction, the amount of the fine (or the amount of salary forfeited in the case of a suspension), up to a maximum of $75,000 per violation, will count toward his club’s season total,” the league’s memo to teams reads. “For the 2024 season, the Remittance Policy will be triggered when a club’s players incur more than $90,000 in fines or suspensions. If that threshold is exceeded, the club must repay an amount equal to the cumulative amount of Covered Infraction fines 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 must repay $175,000.”