NFL Network analyst and former NFL offensive lineman Brian Baldinger has been suspended after suggesting that the Eagles needed to put a bounty on Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, according to Pro Football Talk.
NFL Network suspends Brian Baldinger for saying Eagles should put a bounty on Ezekiel Elliott
The league cracked down swiftly after Baldinger made the comment during a radio appearance.
Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
Jeanna Kelley has been covering the Falcons for The Falcoholic since 2011 and the NFL for SB Nation since 2015.
“This is the guy that that we’ve got to hurt,” Baldinger said of Elliott in a radio interview on Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic last week. “This is the guy that we’ve got to take out of the game. There’s got to be 10 guys that want to hurt him every single play. In fact, we may even put a little bounty on Ezekiel Elliott.”
Since the Saints’ Bountygate saga, the NFL has adopted a no-tolerance approach to dealing with teams who reward players for knocking opponents out of games with injuries, which is precisely what Baldinger was suggesting the Eagles do to Elliott.
Apparently that no-tolerance approach applies to all employees, as well. Baldinger will be suspended for six months without pay.
Baldinger is apparently not the biggest fan of Elliott, anyway. During the same radio interview, Baldinger said the way Elliott dressed at the NFL draft demonstrated “arrogance,” and that Elliott “bugs me.”
The Eagles did not injure Elliott in their overtime loss to the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football, but they did limit him to 96 rushing yards. It marked the first time Elliott, who leads the league in rushing, had fewer than 134 yards in any single game since Week 2 of the 2016 season.
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