Buffalo Bills wide receiver Cole Beasley has accumulated about $100,000 in fines for violating the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols this season, ESPN reported Sunday.
One of the fines, for $14,600, was assessed in August when NFL officials were at the Bills’ training facility and spotted Beasley not wearing a mask.
Beasley, 32, has been outspoken in his views on the COVID-19 vaccination and is unvaccinated. He tested positive for the virus on Tuesday and must be away from the team at least 10 days.
As a result, he isn’t playing in Sunday’s key AFC East game between the Bills (8-5) and host New England Patriots (9-6).
Beasley won’t lose money for this game, though. Under rules agreed to between the league and the players association, unvaccinated players are not penalized their game check if they miss a game because of a positive COVID-19 test.
He is in the third season of a four-year, $29 million deal he signed with Buffalo in March 2019.
Beasley has 76 receptions, second on the team to Stefon Diggs, for 640 yards and a touchdown this season. He has 544 career catches for 5,656 yards and 34 touchdowns in 147 games with the Dallas Cowboys (2012-18) and Bills.
–Field Level Media
