According to new league protocols, NFL players who contract the coronavirus through “high risk” activities outside of team facilities may face team discipline and may even be at risk of not being pay them.
A memo sent by the NFLPA to agents this weekend, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN, outlines various rules governing player contracts, as well as the opt-out provisions and contractual consequences of a canceled season.
The memo says the final language of Friday’s deal between the league and players will appear in a side letter that is still being negotiated, and that the information released this weekend represents “a summary of the main aspects of COVID’s amendments. ” But the basics are covered, and the final section of the memo is dedicated to the fact that players will be responsible for how they circulate in public while the coronavirus remains present.
In a conference call with NFLPA leaders, players were told they could face disciplinary action, including fines, for conduct detrimental to the team if it is discovered that they contracted COVID-19 through reckless activity off-site. . This weekend’s memo reinforces that and says such activity could allow a player’s team to challenge the status of a COVID-19 diagnosis such as a football injury.
If such a challenge were successful, the team could presumably put the player on the list of non-soccer related injuries, a move that would allow the team the option of not paying him.
To be clear on the procedure, players must test negative twice before they are allowed to enter the team premises at the start of training camp. Any player who is diagnosed with COVID-19 after two negative entry tests will have their condition diagnosed as a football injury, according to the NFL / NLFPA agreement, and the team may place that player on a specific COVID injured reserve. -19 list from which you would be allowed to return after meeting certain criteria.
But the memo also says, “Clubs / NFLs can challenge the designation as a soccer-related injury if it can prove that the player contracted COVID-19 by engaging in high-risk behavior below. (This issue remains open.)” .
According to the memo, the NFL defines high-risk conduct as attending:
• an indoor disco with more than 15 people
• an indoor bar with more than 15 people, other than to collect food
• a party at home with more than 15 people
• an indoor music concert / entertainment event with more than 15 people.
• a professional sporting event, other than applicable NFL games or events, with more than 15 people
• an indoor religious service attended by more than 25 percent of the site’s capacity
“Players will have to be careful outside the building,” Rams tackle Andrew Whitworth said in a conference call last week after revealing that he and his entire family contracted the virus after one of them went to lunch. with a friend. “All that is needed is an exposure and it can spread like a forest fire.”
Other elements addressed in this weekend’s NFLPA memo:
• There will be no reduction in 2020 players’ wages or bonuses if there is a full NFL season.
• The $ 17 million benefits for 2020 are canceled for players, including the second professional savings plan, tuition assistance and payment of the rest week, among others. Those benefits will be reimbursed to players through a new benefit after 2023. Most of the canceled benefits are the ones that would have been new this year under the CBA signed in March, and will instead start in 2021.
• If playing at least one week of NFL games, players who were part of the team’s Week 1 squad or practice squad will not be toll on their contracts and will receive a full credited season for the purpose of pensions and benefits and a cumulative season to get free agency.
• A player who chooses not to participate in the 2020 season must inform his team in writing within seven days of the end of the side card. Your contract will come at a cost, which means it will resume next year where it is now. And as long as you have earned an accredited season in 2019 or been recruited in 2020, you will receive a stipend of $ 150,000, which will be treated as a salary advance and will come out of payment for future years.
• A player who chooses not to participate because they are in a higher risk medical category will receive a stipend of $ 350,000 that is not an advance against future salary. You will also receive a cumulative season toward free agency and a credited season toward player benefits and minimum wage.
The note lists 15 qualifying conditions, provided the player has a diagnosis of one of them in their medical records prior to the NFL / NFLPA agreement. The high-risk categories are: cancer; chronic kidney disease; COPD; weakened immune system by solid organ transplant; serious heart conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies; Sickle-cell anaemia; type 2 diabetes; asthma; cerebrovascular disease; cystic fibrosis; hypertension or high blood pressure; immune system weakened by blood or bone marrow transplantation, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune-compromising medications; neurological conditions such as dementia; liver disease; and pulmonary fibrosis
• A team must offer separate accommodation to a player who has a high-risk person living with him, if the player requests it.
• If the season is canceled before the final cut of the training camp list, any player who is on a training camp list and has won an accredited season in 2019 or been selected in 2020 will receive a $ 250,000 stipend and your health insurance for NFL players. A player who did not win an accredited season in 2019 or was not selected in 2020 will receive a stipend of $ 50,000. If the season is canceled before the final list cuts, all contracts are charged.
• If the season is canceled after the final cut, a player who is on the roster at the time of cancellation will receive a $ 300,000 stipend offset by any salary earned during the season, plus health insurance. Players in the practice squad will receive $ 100,000 stipends (offset by any wages already earned) and health insurance.
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