The NFL announced on Monday that the Seattle Seahawks have been fined $400,000 and will be forced to forfeit a 2017 fifth-round draft pick for violating the league’s rules against “on-field physical contact” during an offseason workout in June.
Pete Carroll has also been fined $200,000, and the Seahawks will not be allowed to practice during the first week of OTAs next season.
Seahawks fined $400,000 for excessive off-season workouts and Pete Carroll fined $200,00 for it. pic.twitter.com/nu3pGFYnXX
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) September 19, 2016
The violation stemmed from a practice on June 6, when a video review showed the Seahawks broke the “no-contact” rule. Appendix G of the collective bargaining agreement states that “voluntary offseason workout programs are intended to provide training, teaching and physical conditioning for players. The intensity and tempo of drills should be at a level conducive to learning, with player safety as the highest priority, and not at a level where one player is in a physical contest with another player.”
This is actually the third time the Seahawks have violated the CBA’s “no-contact” rules under Carroll. The team was fined an undisclosed amount in 2012 and had to forfeit two OTA sessions. In 2014, the Seahawks were fined $300,000 and lost more practice time.
We can only imagine the outrage there would be if a certain other NFL head coach did what Carroll has done. For the NFL to fine the Seahawks $600,000 in total and take away a draft pick means they consider the violation a serious one.
