Sports

REPORT: Jacksonville Jaguars Void Leonard Fournette’s Remaining Guaranteed Money

(Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
Font Size:

Jacksonville Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette sounds like he’s about to lose out on millions of dollars.

Fournette and fellow running back T.J. Yeldon were ripped as “selfish” and “disrespectful” following Sunday’s game by Tom Coughlin after they appeared not to give a damn about what was happening on the bench, according to ProFootballTalk(RELATED: Here Are The Best Moments From Week 15 Of The NFL Season)

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Leonard Fournette (@leonardfournette) on

Generally speaking, a public lashing from a team executive is bad enough in the NFL, but it’s about to get a hell of a lot worse for the former LSU star because the team is reportedly voiding millions in guaranteed money on his deal.

News4Jax reported the following:

A person familiar with the situation says the Jacksonville Jaguars have notified running back Leonard Fournette that his suspension late last month voided the remaining guarantees in his four-year rookie contract.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity Sunday night. The person said the Jaguars notified Fournette of the action weeks ago. Fournette could challenge the decision.

The fourth overall pick in the 2017 draft was suspended a week without pay for leaving the bench, running across the field and instigating a fight with Buffalo defensive end Shaq Lawson on Nov. 25. Fournette lost nearly $100,000 in salary during the suspension. It could cost him $7.1 million more if the Jaguars decided to cut him with no guaranteed money remaining.

The Jags must be absolutely furious with Fournette. There’s absolutely no other reason to void more than $7 million dollars in guaranteed money.

Teams just don’t do stuff like that for the hell of it. They do it to send a message, and Jacksonville just sent 7.1 million messages to the star running back and everybody else in the locker room.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Leonard Fournette (@leonardfournette) on

There must be a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes because a single game suspension for leaving the bench would almost never trigger a team to void guaranteed money. Stuff of that nature happens on a regular basis in the NFL, and you almost never see a team impose massive financial punishments.

I would have loved to see the look on Fournette’s face when he was informed he was about to lose out on more than $7 million. I bet the reaction was golden.

What I do know for sure is that he better figure his stuff out before he finds himself in even more trouble.

Follow David Hookstead on Twitter