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Being suspended in the NFL is never a good thing, but for Haloti Ngata the costs will prove to be exceptional. Per the NFL’s CBA a player suspended under the drug policies will not only lose his game checks for time missed but will also forfeit the proportionate amount of his signing bonus for that season. For a player operating under a contract with a $25 million signing bonus that is going to be a significant number.
Ngata’s base salary for the season was $8.5 million. He will now lose $2 million in base salary. He will also forfeit $1,176,471 of his bonus money, leaving him $3.176 million lighter in the pocket for just a four game suspension. That is certainly not a number to sneeze at and illustrates the big dollars at stake for star players when suspended.
The Ravens will earn a $2 million cap credit immediately for 2014 and the balance will be applied to their 2015 cap totals.
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Jason is the founder of OTC and has been studying NFL contracts and the salary cap for over 15 years. Jason has co-authored two books about the NFL, Crunching Numbers and the Drafting Stage, which are widely circulated in the industry and hosts the OTC Podcast. Jason’s work has been featured in various publications including the Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, NFL Network and more. OTC is widely considered the leading authority on contract matters in the NFL.