JJ Watt voices concern over NFL rules after Jaylen Warren racks up $97,000 in fines- “We are headed towards flag football”
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren has become a breakout player for the team this season. However, it hasn't come without a cost. Warren has been fined in consecutive weeks by the NFL for plays they felt were aggressive.
Former NFL defensive end JJ Watt had had enough of the fines and the NFL officiating. Watt, who appears regularly on "The Pat McAfee Show," believes the fines are extensive and shouldn't add up to a player's entire game check.
"Anytime you got to watch the (Steelers' Jaylen Warren) play 10 times to figure out which person is getting fined? I think you messed up," Watt said on the show. "I posted that on Twitter and everybody was like, 'Which player is it?' if we're having to do that maybe we shouldn't be taking the guy's entire paycheck. I mean, he's literally going out there and playing for free two weeks in a row."
"Literally, the goal of a cut block is to blow somebody's knee out basically," Watt added. "And we're gonna be okay with that. But we're going to take this guy's whole paycheck because he tried to block the 300 pounder. We are literally headed toward flag football as a league and I don't love this middle ground that we're in right now."
JJ Watt sees the NFL becoming flag football if these types of fines keep on happening.
How much was Steelers RB Jaylen Warren fined?
Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jaylen Warren was fined twice, once in Week 2 and another in Week 7. The fine was for a hit on Cleveland Browns safety Juan Thornhill II in Week 2. However, it was reduced from $48,333 to $39,000 following his appeal.
The Week 7 fine was for Warren's block on Los Angeles Rams linebacker Michael Hoecht. For that block, he was fined $48,566. Warren was not flagged at either incident throughout the game. This implies that the NFL went back and discovered it while reviewing games each week. The amount of both fines adds up to nearly $97,000, which is a hefty pay considering his $14 million annual salary.