NFL Players Association Executive Director DeMaurice Smith said in a conference call last month that one team had been penalized by the league for violating the Collective Bargaining Agreement’s rules governing offseason work.
Smith also said that reports of other possible violations were also under investigation and it appears that other teams are also facing penalties from the league. Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that the 49ers, Jaguars and Cowboys have been fined by the league for violations during organized team activities. Multiple reports indicate the teams will also lost OTA days next offseason.
Per the report, the 49ers and Cowboys were each fined $100,000. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy were each fined $50,000. The Jaguars were fined $200,000 and head coach Urban Meyer incurred a $100,000 penalty.
It’s not clear if any of these teams were the one Smith referred to during his conference call.
The precise nature of the violations is also unclear. While the 49ers and Cowboys both have experienced head coaches running their workouts, Meyer is new to the NFL after coaching in college for his entire career. Meyer has made several comments about the differences between the two levels. Should the specific violation come to light, it will be interesting to see if it fell into the category of something allowable at the collegiate level during offseason workouts.