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Report: Free agent LB Burfict arrested in Nevada

Field Level Media

December 05, 2020 at 4:23 pm.

Free agent linebacker Vontaze Burfict was arrested on a misdemeanor battery charge overnight in Nevada, according to ESPN.

Citing jail records, ESPN reported that Burfict was held on $1,000 bond and faces a hearing on Monday. There were no details available on the incident that led to the charge.

Burfict was reinstated from a suspension that cost him most of the 2019 season in January, but he has remained unsigned.

Playing for the then-Oakland Raiders, Burfict was suspended for the final 12 games of the 2019 season after his helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis Colts tight end Jack Doyle in Week 4. It was the longest suspension in NFL history for an on-field hit.

Burfict, 30, was playing on a one-year, $2 million contract with the Raiders, a discounted deal due in part to his previous transgressions.

While playing with the Cincinnati Bengals, he missed the start of both the 2016 and 2017 seasons while serving suspensions for player-safety violations, and he missed the start of 2018 for a violation of the league’s policy on performance-enhancing drugs.

In 2016, Burfict had a five-game suspension for a hit on Kansas City Chiefs fullback Anthony Sherman reduced to three games.

He has amassed more than $5.3 million in fines and forfeited salary due to suspensions in his career, Spotrac said.

Burfict has 622 tackles, 8.5 sacks, five interceptions and five fumble recoveries in 79 games (77 starts) with the Bengals (2012-18) and Raiders. He made the Pro Bowl in 2013 when he led the league with 171 tackles.