Dallas Cowboys head coach, Mike McCarthy has been fined $100,000 for violating rules regarding offseason practices, according to owner and general manager Jerry Jones.
The Cowboys have also been docked an OTA practice in 2023 as well.
McCarthy was fined for holding practices that were deemed too physical by the NFL.
This is the second consecutive year in which the Cowboys coach and team were found to have violated league rules when it comes to the off-season practice schedule. The team was originally fined for the violation last year as opposed to this year.
McCarthy needs to read the CBA
Per the latest collective bargaining agreement, signed off by both the NFL and NFLPA, OTAs with live contact are no longer allowed.
The Cowboys are not the only team to have violated the latest rules.
Earlier in OTA’s new Bear head coach Matt Eberflus was docked a practice for violation of non-contact rules.
In 2021, The San Francisco 49ers, and Jacksonville Jaguars were also fined and docked practices for violation of the CBA as well.
With player safety becoming far more prevalent within the NFL’s mindset, physical practices are becoming less and less of a thing. The Philadelphia Eagles and Cincinnati Bengals had two of the lowest required OTA’s scheduled and neither team held minicamp as a way to keep players healthy.
For the Dallas Cowboys and Mike McCarthy, the latest news is tied to an off-season that saw them trade away their #1 wideout in Amari Cooper and lose out on many top defensive players in free agency like Randy Gregory and Von Miller.
Following a first round playoff exit, all eyes are now on McCarthy who is entering the third year of a five year contract with Dallas and has yet to win a playoff game.
*UPDATE*
Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera has also reportedly been also fined $100,000 for conducting excessive contact in spring drills.
The NFLPA had looked over practice film and sent the tapes that they felt had violated the Collective Bargaining Agreement on OTA practices.
The Commanders have also been docked two practices in 2023 for the violations that reportedly were worse than what was originally seen by the press.
The news comes just a week after Rivera fined his defensive coordinator, Jack Del Rio for saying the January 6th insurrection to a “dust-up” and comparing it to the George Floyd protests over the previous summer.
In a letter to Commanders general manager Martin Mayhew, the league state that “there’s no question” a team does this to gain a competitive advantage.
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