Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith already announced that he would be missing the entire season but the team has still fined him for missing mandatory minicamp. Smith took to Instagram to show the letter he received from the club stating he was being fined $88,650 for missing the three days of minicamp.
Photo of Telvin Smith instagram post: pic.twitter.com/BPbUgvCWMy
— Demetrius Harvey (@Demetrius82) June 15, 2019
Even though Smith has announced that he would be skipping the season to “sit and get his life right” but it appears that he hasn't officially informed the Jaguars of his plan. Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, points out the reason that they are probably fining him is so they won't have to pay him the $5 million he is guaranteed for this upcoming season.
Article Continues BelowSmith complains about the fine, given his apparent decision to “sit & get [his] life right.” But the Jaguars still need to protect themselves. Smith is due to earn a base salary of $9.75 million this season, $5 million of which became fully guaranteed on March 17. His failure to show up for the mandatory minicamp arguably forfeits the guarantee, and the Jaguars presumably need to acknowledge the failure to report (by providing him with notice of the fine) or risk still owing him the $5 million.
Smith has made it clear that he isn't retiring and will be returning to the NFL at some point but it seems unclear when that will be. It's smart for the Jaguars to do everything in their power so they don't have to pay him, especially if he isn't fully committed to the team.