New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman is $63,504 lighter in the wallet after being fined by the NFL for three separate incidents of unnecessary roughness in last week’s game versus the Buffalo Bills.
Edelman was fined $26,739 for each of his two illegal crack-back blocks and $10,026 for blocking safety Siran Neal after calling for a fair catch.
The total sum of the fines is more than half of Edelman’s weekly pay, which is $117,647. He has a base salary of $2 million this season.
Players are able to have fines reduced on appeal if they are more than a quarter of their weekly pay for a first offense, or more than half of their pay for a second.
Edelman also was fined $26,739 for an unnecessary roughness penalty incurred in New England’s first meeting with Buffalo on Oct. 29.
The 32-year-old Edelman missed the entire 2017 season after suffering a torn ACL in an exhibition contest in August and served a four-game suspension for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy to begin the 2018 campaign.
Edelman has recorded 69 receptions for 781 yards and five touchdowns in 11 games for the Patriots (10-5), who have won 10 straight AFC East championships. New England can clinch a first-round bye in the playoffs should it defeat the visiting New York Jets (4-11) on Sunday (1 p.m. ET).
