WGNO

Saints forfeit 2022 draft pick and $700K for past COVID-19 protocol violations

Aaron S. Lee

FILE - In this Sept. 21, 2020 file photo, New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, right, speak with quarterback Drew Brees (9) during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, in Las Vegas. The NFL has fined the New Orleans Saints $500,000 and stripped them of a 2021 seventh-round draft pick for violating league COVID-19 protocols, a person with direct knowledge of the discipline told The Associated Press on Sunday, Nov. 29. New Orleans was fined as a repeat offender; Payton previously was docked $150,000 and the team $250,000 because the head coach failed to properly wear a face covering against the Raiders in Week 2. (AP Photo/Isaac Brekken, File)

NEW ORLEANS — NFL Insider Ian Rapoport has reported on Twitter that the New Orleans Saints have received its penalties for breaking COVID protocols set by the league and the player’s association during the previous pro football season.

Rapoport, who works for the NFL Network and NFL.com, tweeted “the Saints will forfeit their sixth-round selection in the 2022 NFL Draft and will be fined $700,000 for violations of the NFL-NFLPA COVID protocols during the 2020 season.”

The Saints had most recently found themselves on the hot seat for COVID-19 disciplinary sanctions surrounding surveillance footage showing what could have led to a player’s positive test result in December.

Prior to that incident, the Saints had already been penalized for COVID-19 protocol violations in Week 2 and in Week 9.