New Orleans Saints safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson was penalized for unnecessary roughness after dragging a Philadelphia Eagles player out of the pile after a late onside kick attempt in Week 14’s defeat, and now he’s paying for it again with a fine from the league office.
Nola.com’s Amie Just reports that Gardner-Johnson was docked $5,128 by the NFL for the foul. The second-year pro earns a weekly game check worth about $39,000, so he’s halfway to losing an entire week’s pay to fines on the year so far, having forfeited a total of $20,512 following incidents earlier this season.
Fines may be appealed if players choose to do so. The money is donated to several foundations that benefit former players in retirement, so some good will come of this later on down the road. But don’t expect Gardner-Johnson to change his aggressive style of play so long as he avoids racking penalties that hurt his team.
