Pretty much anyone who watched the AFC Wildcard matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins last weekend knew this was coming.
In the midst of his team being blown out, Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore took a severe hit to the upper body from Steelers linebacker Bud Dupree.
It was obviously a dirty hit, one that drew a 15-yard penalty (watch here).
Now, days removed from the game, the NFL has fined Dupree $18,231 for the hit on Moore (via ESPN).
With a salary of $2.1 million for the 2016 season, this is chump change for Dupree. In fact, it equates to less than one percent of his salary.
The NFL may say that it prides itself on player safety and protecting the shield. That’s fine and dandy. But fining a player $18,000 really isn’t going to act as a deterrent to future hits similar to this. That’s only magnified by the fact that this one hit was subject to the NFL reviewing the application of the concussion protocol.