Jeremy Sprinkle fined the equivalent of two game checks, will be reduced

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The bad news for Washington tight end Jeremy Sprinkle is that he was fined $84,231 for penalties in last week’s game.

The really bad news for Sprinkle is that his salary of $645,000 works out to about $37,941 per game. That means his fine is the equivalent of more than two game checks. If he had to pay that full fine, he’d basically be playing that game for free — and playing the next game for free as well.

The good news for Sprinkle is that he won’t actually pay that fine. The NFL typically reduces a player’s fine if it’s more than 25 percent of his weekly pay for a first offense, and more than 50 percent of his weekly pay for a second offense. Here’s the rule, from Article 46 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement:

“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.”

There have been no previous reports of Sprinkle being fined this year, so this fine appears to be his first offense, which means he’ll actually be fined 25 percent of his weekly pay, or $9,485. Still a lot of money, but not quite what it first appears.

Sprinkle’s fine was for two offenses, both of which were considered unnecessary roughness. One of the fines was for $28,075, and the other, for a more flagrant hit to the head, was $56,156.