Mike Florio ,
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Yes, the league office will consider further discipline of Eagles defensive tackle Jalen Carter after last night’s spitting incident. Yes, a suspension is on the table.
If/when the league tries to ban Carter for one or more games moving forward, he could have a strong argument on appeal.
Put simply, the precedent doesn’t support a suspension.
Past incidents of spitting have resulted in a fine only. Here are the ones we found by accessing the collective memory and rudimentary Google skills of the PFT staff.
In 1997, Broncos linebacker Bill Romanowski was fined $7,500 for spitting in the face of 49ers receiver J.J. Stokes. Romanowski also received a “strongly worded letter.”
In 1998, Buccaneers linebacker Hardy Nickerson was fined $7,500 for spitting on Panthers running back William Floyd. Nickerson was penalized but not ejected.
During the 2005 playoffs, Washington safety Sean Taylor was fined $17,000 (the amount of his playoff game check) for spitting in the face of Buccaneers running back Michael Pittman. Taylor also was ejected from the game.
In 2006, Cowboys receiver Terrell Owens was fined $35,000 for spitting in the face of Falcons cornerback DeAngelo Hall. Hall called for Owens to be suspended; he was not.
In 2020, Ravens cornerback Marcus Peters was fined $12,500 for spitting at Browns receiver Jarvis Landry.
With no suspension ever being imposed for spitting, that history will make it hard for the league to make a spitting suspension stick. And with the Eagles due to face the Chiefs in Week 2, the league could be sensitive to the perception that a suspension of Carter could be viewed as yet another jump ball for the Chiefs. (The league office isn’t doing the Chiefs favors, but the league office would be foolish not to at least consider the reaction to Carter not being available for the Super Bowl LIX rematch.)
On Thursday night, Carter received a full game check for not playing a single down in the game. The right outcome could be to have him play in Week 2 without getting paid.
And so the right punishment — and the one that could hold up on appeal — would be a fine in the amount of a game check.
Carter has a base salary of $1.03 million in 2025. That works out to $57,222 per week.
Thus, a fine of $57,222 seems to be fair and appropriate, given the precedent the league has established in similar cases.
This doesn’t mean the league won’t attempt to suspend Carter. The history of punishments in other cases could make it much harder for the league to win the appeal.
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