New Orleans Saints defensive tackle Khristian Boyd has been fined $4,665 by the NFL for a hit on Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeVonta Smith that knocked the former Alabama All-American into the league’s concussion protocol.
With Smith being ridden down after a 5-yard gain by New Orleans defensive backs Paulson Adebo and Kendal Vickers, the 320-pound Boyd blasted Smith in the back and head. Smith’s helmet flew off, and the hit left him stretched flat on the turf at Caesars Superdome on Sunday.
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After being tended to on the field, Smith walked to the sideline medical tent, then to the locker room. Smith did not practice this week. He remains in the NFL’s concussion protocol and will not play in Sunday’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
After the game, Eagles safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson said Boyd’s hit on Smith was “the dirtiest (expletive) I ever saw in football.”
The NFL announced fines for 30 players on Saturday from Week 3, including Gardner-Johnson, who was fined $44,921 for three transgressions.
Boyd’s fine was the smallest of the week.
The NFL uses a collectively bargained Schedule of Fines to determine the amount of monetary punishment. The schedule shows that a first-time offender can be fined $16,883 for a hit on a defenseless player.
But Boyd had a mitigating factor that prevented his fine from being that high.
The NFL’s Schedule of Fines also comes with a list of aggravating and mitigating factors that can affect the size of a fine.
One of the mitigating factors says: “No first offense may result in the imposition of a baseline fine in excess of 10 percent of a player’s salary-cap count for the game.”
Boyd has a salary-cap hit of $839,707 for the 2024 season. Spread over an 18-week season, that’s an average of $46,650. Ten percent of that is $4,665, so Boyd received the maximum fine possible.
Boyd could get $1,166.25 of the fine back. The CBA says: ‘Any fine imposed for a first offense will be collected in full, however, 25 percent of that fine amount will be held in abeyance until the end of the season and returned if: (i) player participates in remedial training regarding the conduct at issue, and (ii) does not receive a second fine for on-field conduct in the same league year.”
The NFL suspended Los Angeles Chargers Derwin James this week for one game for continued infractions.
The largest monetary punishment for Week 3 short of suspension went to Green Bay Packers running back Josh Jacobs. The former Alabama ball-carrier received a fine of $45,020 for unnecessary roughness for leading with his helmet on a 10-yard run with 5:16 remaining in the Packers’ 30-14 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday. Jacobs was not penalized on the play.
Another Alabama alumnus, Detroit Lions defensive back Brian Branch, was fined twice from a 20-13 victory over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Branch was fined $10,128 for each transgression – unnecessary roughness (striking/kicking/kneeing) with two seconds left in the first half and unnecessary roughness (use of helmet) with 6:06 left to play. Branch was not penalized on the field in either case, although he did get hurt and left the game after the second one.
Also fined in Week 3 was New York Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood, a former Auburn standout. Sherwood was docked $6,354 for a late hit during a 24-3 victory over the New England Patriots on Thursday night. Sherwood was penalized on the play.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
