The NFL has suspended Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf for two games after his ugly interaction with a Detroit Lions fan in Week 16.
Metcalf confronted the fan on the sideline in the second quarter and grabbed and shoved the fan before walking away. The NFL announced Metcalf's two-game suspension on Monday.
Not only will that cost Metcalf two games and more than $550,000 in salary, but the suspension also voids at least $45 million in future guarantees in his Steelers contract, according to CBS Sports' Jonathan Jones.
To be clear, Metcalf can still make that money, but if the Steelers cut him or trade him before he collects it, Pittsburgh won't be on the hook for it.
Here's what Jones wrote.
The two-game suspension for what the NFL terms "conduct detrimental" to the league now voids at least $45 million in future guaranteed money for the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver. Metcalf would still be able to earn that money over the next two years.
Jones adds that Metcalf's deal says guarantees "will be null and void" if he "fails… to practice or play with the Club for any reason," and that includes "player's suspension by the NFL or Club for Conduct Detrimental."
There are conflicting accounts for what led Metcalf to do what he did.
The fan told the Detroit Free Press that he simply called Metcalf by his real name.
Metcalf told former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson that the fan called him a racial slur and Metcalf's mom the C-word. The fan has since denied that happened.
"These allegations are completely false," said a statement released by Shawn Head and Sean Murphy of Head Murphy Law Firm, which represents the fan.
Neither account has been confirmed.
Metcalf's suspension is already very expensive for him, but it could be a lot more costly, and in more ways than one.
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