NEW ORLEANS — The Saints were slapped with a $500,000 fine and the loss of a 7th round draft pick for not wearing masks during a locker room celebration after beating the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, according to a report.
ESPN's Adam Schefter first broke the news on Twitter, adding that the team has appealed the NFL's decision.
The celebration was caught on camera after the Saints demolished the Bucs 38-3 in week 9.
This incident is the second time the league has fined the Saints for mask violations. Head Coach Sean Payton was fined $100,000 and the team was fined $250,000 earlier in the season because Payton wasn't wearing a mask while on the sidelines during week 2's game against the Oakland Raiders.
The NFL has cracked down on coronavirus enforcement among teams after COVID cases forced several teams to modify their schedules.
The Denver Broncos, facing off against the Saints Sunday, will do so without a quarterback because all of their eligible QBs were cut by the league after close contact with No. 3 quarterback Jeff Driskel.
But the NFL told the Broncos Saturday that their game against the Saints will proceed on time anyway.
One of the Broncos' replacement options is practice squad receiver Kendall Hinton, who played three seasons of quarterback at Wake Forest. The team's emergency quarterback is otherwise running back Royce Freeman. It's also possible the Broncos could use running backs Melvin Gordon and Phillip Lindsay to operate from the Wildcat formation.
Kickoff at Empower Field at Mile High will be at 3:05 p.m. Sunday.
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