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New Orleans Saints wide receiver Michael Thomas committed a rare mistake against the Atlanta Falcons last week, and it ended up costing him $10,527 in a fine from the league office. Amie Just of Nola.com reported Saturday that Thomas received a fine for unnecessary roughness after being fouled for grabbing the face mask of an opponent during the second quarter.
It was an uncharacteristic penalty from one of the Saints’ most-dependable players, and one he’s unlikely to repeat. The good news is that Thomas can afford it easily enough — he inked a five-year, $96.25 million contract extension this offseason that pays out roughly $96,943 per game this season.
But Thomas wasn’t the only one to get a letter from the NFL. Just also reported that backup safety and special teams ace J.T. Gray was also fined $10,527 due to a roughing the kicker penalty in the same game, in which he fell into Falcons punter Ryan Allen’s planted leg during the fourth quarter. And unlike Thomas, Gray is still playing on his rookie contract — meaning almost a third of his $33,529 weekly game check will go towards paying for this mistake.
Unfortunately, these sorts of mental errors and sloppy mistakes were common a week ago. Self-inflicted penalties like these (and a series of fouls for hands to the face from four different defenders) hurt the Saints, wiping out big gains and nullifying defensive stops on third down. The Saints know they can’t repeat that kind of messy performance, and while they don’t need added motivation, these hits to their wallets certainly won’t keep them from remembering that.
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