NFL drops the hammer on New Orleans Saints for getting into multiple fights during joint practice
The New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys recently held a joint practice, and things got chiuppy, to say the least, multiple times. Now, the National Football League has stepped in and put its foot down.
The NFL dropped the hammer on the New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys this week, fining both organizations for their roles in a joint practice that devolved into chaos. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported that the NFL has fined both the Saints and Cowboys $500,000 for their actions that led to six separate fights over the course of a single joint practice session.
Half a million dollars per team for six fights. Not one, not two, not three, but six altercations in what was supposed to be a controlled environment for football preparation.
The truth is, once you get past one or two fights at a practice, you’re done. The session is a wash. When you reach six, you might as well be hosting a UFC event, because no meaningful football is getting played. No drills aren’t getting done. No scrimmage work is being accomplished. Every other minute, somebody is throwing punches instead of running routes or working on technique.
Do the fines actually matter?
So the question becomes, do the Saints and Cowboys even care about a $500,000 fine? Probably not. For organizations pulling in the kind of revenue NFL teams generate, that number barely registers. It’s a slap on the wrist dressed up as discipline.
This has been becoming more of an epidemic across the league, and I’m not sure what the NFL or these teams expect when they put players in this situation. You take two rosters deep in the dog days of training camp. These guys have been hitting each other for two to three weeks straight. You throw them into live reps against a different colored jersey in a controlled environment where they know there are no real consequences. What do you think is going to happen?
Joint practices remain a flawed concept
In my opinion, the fine itself isn’t the answer. And honestly, joint practices in general remain a flawed concept. That’s why preseason games exist. That’s why regular season games exist. If the NFL wants competitive, controlled environments for teams to test themselves against outside competition, the infrastructure is already there. Joint practices strip away accountability and replace it with frustration, and the results speak for themselves.
The bottom line is, the NFL can fine teams all it wants, but until the league addresses the root cause of why these brawls keep happening, $500,000 penalties will continue to feel like background noise. The Saints and the Cowboys will write the check, move on, and everyone will forget about it by Week 1.
