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          NFL Nation

          Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict will lose almost $1.5 million if PED suspension stands

          • Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff WriterMar 16, 2018, 10:10 PM
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              Katherine Terrell came back to ESPN to cover the New Orleans Saints in the summer of 2022. She left the company in 2019 after joining in 2016 to cover the Cincinnati Bengals. Katherine is a graduate of LSU and a Baton Rouge, Louisiana, native, and she has covered the NFL since 2013. You can follow Katherine on Twitter: @Kat_Terrell
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          Vontaze Burfict's latest suspension could prove costly.

          ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported Burfict is facing a four-game suspension for a violation of the NFL's performance-enhancing drug policy. Burfict plans to appeal the suspension, but if it isn't overturned, he stands to lose at least $1.458 million in base salary and roster bonuses, putting his total losses at more than $3.4 million for his career.

          That also doesn't include the $303,637 in fines from the NFL due to on-the-field incidents, although it's likely he got at least some of that money back via appeals.

          The Cincinnati Bengals could be opening the season without Burfict for the fourth straight year. He was suspended for the first three games of the past two seasons for violations of the NFL’s player safety rules. He started the 2015 season on the physically unable to perform list after having microfracture surgery at the end of the previous season.

          He hasn't played a full season since 2013, and it's certainly cost him.

          Burfict's losses of at least $1.45 million this year break down into two categories: his game checks and his per-game roster bonuses. He has a $3.58 million base salary that's divided into 17 installments of $221,118. He'll miss four of those for a total of $896,470 while on suspension.

          Burfict also had language in his contract that would pay him $140,625 for every game in 2018 that he was on the active 46-man roster. He'll lose $562,500 if he doesn't play in those four games.

          Burfict lost $502,941 in game checks due to his 2016 suspension and $1.4 million in 2017 game checks while suspended. He also lost $94,000 in per-game roster bonuses last season while suspended.