The Baltimore Ravens are being punished for their recent outbreak of COVID-19, but not as harshly as other teams.
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the NFL is fining the Ravens $ 250,000 for their outbreak of COVID-19 in late November, but they are not being deprived of a draft choice. The Ravens are the fifth team to be disciplined for protocol violations and team outbreaks, and are the least punishment to date. The New England Patriots and Tennessee Titans were fined $ 350,000, while the Las Vegas Raiders and New Orleans Saints were fined $ 500,000 and deprived of their choice in the draft.
The Ravens’ outbreak was quite significant. At least four separate strains of COVID-19 were found on the team’s premises, resulting in 23 players – including QB Lamar Jackson – being placed on the COVID-19 list for a period of 10 days. The Ravens’ game against the Pittsburgh Steelers had to be postponed three times, and their game against the Dallas Cowboys was postponed twice.
It is not clear why the Ravens are receiving less punishment than the other teams. Given the number of players affected by the Ravens’ outbreak and how many times the games had to be rescheduled, you’d imagine it would be at least as much as the Pats and Titans, and perhaps even the level of the Raiders and Saints.
However, the NFL could have punished the Ravens less because they already punished their own team for the outbreak. The Ravens allegedly suspended strength trainer Steve Saunders for not reporting his symptoms and not always wearing a mask and his contact tracking device, all violations of the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols.
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