Brett Duke/Associated Press
The New Orleans Saints were fined $500,000 and docked a seventh-round draft pick for not wearing masks during their postgame celebration after their Week 9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported the Saints have appealed the punishment. New Orleans is considered a repeat offender of the NFL‘s COVID-19 policies. The Las Vegas Raiders were previously stripped of a sixth-round pick and fined $500,000 for repeated violations of the policy.
On Nov. 3, the NFL sent out a memo requiring players and coaches to wear masks at all times when they are not on the field, including in the locker room. Several New Orleans players were shown without masks in the postgame celebration of its 38-3 win over Tampa.
While not denying that players were not wearing masks, the Saints have said other teams have celebrated without face coverings without receiving the same level of punishment. The league has come down harder on repeat offenders and will likely continue to do so with COVID-19 ravaging locker rooms in the sport.
Week 12’s game between the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, originally set for Thanksgiving, has been moved to Tuesday amid an outbreak from the Ravens. The Denver Broncos are seemingly set to play the Saints on Sunday without a quarterback because all of the quarterbacks on their roster were deemed close contacts to Jeff Driskel, who tested positive for COVID.
With the league office seemingly steadfast to keep the season moving along as scheduled—even at the expense of competitive balance—it seems likely the penalties for COVID policy violations will only increase from here.