Tom Brady Slams NFL Fines, Says Players Shouldn't Lose Salary For Making Mistakes: "Easy For Someone To Say, Give Me $75,000"

NFL players expect to be fined when they break the rules, but Tom Brady believes the league's current system is too harsh. Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, the seven-time Super Bowl champion questioned why players can lose such a large part of their salary for mistakes made during games. Brady's comments come as NFL fines continue to spark debate. In recent seasons, several players have received heavy penalties, with some fines later being reduced or even overturned, leading to more questions about how the league enforces its rules.

Tom Brady says NFL fines are too harsh

Tom Brady said the size of the fines can be difficult for many players, especially those who are not among the league's highest earners. “What they start doing is they start fining you $50,000, $75,000,” Brady said on the Stick to Football podcast. “And I'm saying like, I hate that. I hate the fact that, like, you sign a contract for $2 million a year or $5 million a year. And it's so easy for someone to say, ‘Give me $75,000' or ‘Give me $50,000'."

He continued, “It's your second offense, that's $100,000; that's your third offense, $200,000. … What job is like that in the world where you make a mistake at your job, and they come and they go, ‘Hey, we're going to take your salary away.' Then people are like, ‘Yeah, you should take his salary away.'”

Brady spent two decades as one of the NFL's highest-paid players, but said the system can hit lower-paid players much harder.

Recent NFL fines have sparked debate

One of the biggest examples came in 2023 when Atlanta Falcons fullback Keith Smith was fined $87,000 for illegal use of his helmet. According to NFL Players Association executive director JC Tretter, the fine was worth more than Smith's weekly salary. The penalty was later overturned after it was found that Smith had not broken the rules.

That same year, Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown was fined $43,709 for unnecessary roughness, even though officials did not throw a flag during the game.

Tretter has argued that the league has created a "widening disconnect between enforcing the rules in the spirit of protecting players from extremely dangerous play to over-regulating and penalizing players for playing an inherently dangerous game."

The money involved has also grown. According to The Oberlin Review, the NFL collected about $15.5 million in fines during the 2022 season. The figure had already been reached after just 11 weeks in 2023, while last season's total dropped to around $8 million. As debate over player safety and discipline continues, Brady's comments are likely to draw even more attention to how the NFL handles fines.