New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers appears in Quincy District Court for his arraignment on Monday, Oct. 7. Peppers was arrested at his Braintree apartment by police responding to a domestic dispute call.

NFL places Patriots S Jabrill Peppers on commissioner’s exempt list

The NFL placed New England Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers on the commissioner’s exempt list on Wednesday.

Peppers, a team captain, is not permitted to participate in practice or attend games while on the list.

Peppers pleaded not guilty Monday in Quincy District Court after he was arrested on multiple charges that include strangulation and drug possession, per police in Braintree, Mass. Multiple reports indicated the alleged victim is his girlfriend.

“I just want to be clear — any act of domestic violence is unacceptable for us as a team, whether you’re a player, staff member. We’re wholeheartedly against any type of domestic violence. I know the organization’s position, which I fully support,” Patriots coach Jerod Mayo said Wednesday.

“With that being said, I do think that Jabrill has to continue to go through due process. We’ll see how that works out. The league has put him on the exempt list, and that will give us time to gather more information going forward. At this time, he is not in the building and we’ll talk about that at a later time. As a father of three daughters, I definitely understand the seriousness of the allegations and hopefully they’re not true.”

Peppers did not appear in the Patriots’ 15-10 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, having already been ruled out due to a shoulder injury.

Peppers, who turned 29 last Friday, had started all four previous games and has 23 tackles, one interception and two passes defended.

In his eighth season, Peppers has 494 career tackles with 28 tackles for loss, 5.5 sacks, seven interceptions (one returned for a touchdown), five forced fumbles and seven fumble recoveries in 97 games (83 starts).

The Cleveland Browns selected Peppers in the first round (25th overall) out of Michigan in the 2017 NFL Draft. He has played for the Browns (2017-18), New York Giants (2019-21) and Patriots.

Peppers signed a three-year, $24 million contract extension with New England on July 26.

–Field Level Media

Aug 22, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice (4) warms up prior to a game against the Chicago Bears at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

Chiefs’ Rashee Rice not expected to land on commissioner’s exempt list

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Rashee Rice is not expected to be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list stemming from his arrest in the spring, an NFL spokesman said Thursday in a video conference.

“We don’t anticipate he’ll be placed on (the) commissioner’s exempt (list) unless there’s a material change in the case,” NFL spokesperson Brian McCarthy told reporters.

A player placed on the commissioner’s exempt list is paid by his team but is prohibited from participating in practice or attending games. They also do not count against the team’s roster limit.

Rice has participated in the Chiefs’ offseason programs. He remains on target to be available next Thursday when Kansas City hosts the Baltimore Ravens in the NFL’s season opener.

Rice, 24, was involved in a six-car crash on March 30 in Dallas that left seven people with injuries, including at least one woman who sustained “serious bodily injury” and another who was stranded on the highway with her 4-year-old son for about five hours after the crash.

Rice faces one count of aggravated assault, one count of collision involving serious bodily injury and six counts of collision involving injury. Police said Rice was going as fast as 119 mph on a Dallas freeway.

A second-round pick in 2023, Rice set the Chiefs’ rookie record for receiving touchdowns (seven) and receptions (79) last season. He added 26 catches in the playoffs for the Super Bowl champions.

Rice recorded the second-most receiving yards by a rookie in Chiefs history (938), trailing only Dwayne Bowe (995 in 2007).

–Field Level Media

Sep 7, 2023; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Justyn Ross (8) runs onto the field against the Detroit Lions prior to a game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

Chiefs WR Justyn Ross placed on Commissioner’s Exempt List

Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Justyn Ross was placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List Friday, four days after his arrest for misdemeanor charges involving domestic battery and property damage.

Ross, who pleaded not guilty to both charges, is not allowed to practice or play with the team while on that list. Players on the list get paid, however they do not count against the team’s roster limit.

It initially was reported that Ross was arrested Monday in Shawnee, Kan., on suspicion of criminal damage exceeding $25,000, a felony.

However, a report from 610SportsKC on Tuesday said he was in the custody of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office on domestic battery with no priors and criminal damage of less than $1,000.

Ross, 23, was signed by Kansas City as an undrafted free agent out of Clemson in May 2022. He missed all of last season due to a foot injury.

He made his NFL debut this year, and he has appeared off the bench in all seven of the Chiefs’ games. Ross has three catches for 34 yards, though he hasn’t been targeted with a pass in either of the past two games.

Ross had a 1,000-yard receiving season for Clemson as a freshman in 2018, but he missed all of the 2020 season following spinal surgery.

–Field Level Media

Mar 25, 2022; Berea, OH, USA;  Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson talks with the media during a press conference at the CrossCountry Mortgage Campus. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Roger Goodell: Exempt list not in play for Deshaun Watson

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said Tuesday that Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is not likely to be placed on the commissioner’s exempt list while his civil-court accusations of sexual misconduct are resolved.

A grand jury in Harris County, Texas, did not indict Watson earlier this month, dismissing nine criminal complaints based on a lack of enough evidence. Watson still faces accusations by 22 women in civil court.

Before his trade to the Browns, Watson was inactive for all 17 of the Houston Texans’ games in 2021. He had demanded a trade before the accusations against him became public, the Texans chose not to suspend him and Goodell declined to put him on the commissioner’s exempt list, a tool within the personal conduct policy which essentially places a player on paid administrative leave.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday at NFL annual meetings in Palm Beach, Fla., Goodell said the resolution of Watson’s situation on the criminal side meant he would not use the exempt list in 2022, just as he hadn’t in 2021.

“I think we were very clear over the last year that the civil cases were in play over the last year were also — the only thing that’s changed is the criminal element has been at least resolved,” Goodell said. “And that was an important element in the context of the commissioner’s exempt (list) that we’ve discussed with our players association. That was important. If the criminal had proceeded, that would more likely have triggered the commissioner’s exempt. I think at this point, a civil case in and of itself would not do that.

“If there’s a violation of the personal conduct policy, that may trigger something, but that would more likely trigger some kind of discipline in some fashion.”

The contract extension Watson signed with the Browns appears to prepare for the likelihood that he’ll miss some part of 2022 serving a suspension. Though he signed for a record $230 million guaranteed, his base salary in 2022 — the figure that would be affected by a suspension or fine — is only $1 million.

–Field Level Media