NFL's Fines On Miami's DeShon Elliot Shows League Has No Idea What Modern Football Should Look Like Anymore

The NFL punished Miami Dolphins safety DeShon Elliot for two separate hits in his squad's game against the New England Patriots. In the process, the league showed it has no clear vision for what it wants the game of football to look like moving forward.

In the second quarter of Miami’s 31-17 win, Elliot rushed forward to support his linebackers on a New England run play. Patriots running back Rhamondre Steven rushed forward for a sizable gain, and Elliot tackled him.

It seemed like a standard tackle, nothing dirty or unusual at all. However, the NFL decided to discipline the safety for the tackle in the form of a fine.

What was the penalty for this heinous crime, you might ask? A mind-boggling total of $43,709.

Are you kidding me?! For a regular tackle in which he took the worst end of the collision?! How can defenders do their jobs if they’ll get fined nearly $44k for tackling? You can't get so obsessed over "player safety" that you dish out hefty fines over small things like this. If this is what modern NFL defenses are reduced to, you might as well just play flag football.

Unfortunately for Elliot, the NFL wasn’t quite done draining his bank account. Although this time, the league had every right to fine him.

DeShon Elliot's Second Fine Was Just As Confusing As The First

In the third quarter, Elliot turned himself into a heat-seeking missile and launched himself into DeVante Parker’s head. New England’s wide receiver later left the game with a concussion, and will miss his team’s game against Washington tomorrow.

Surely a dirty, mindless hit would merit a targeting call, right? At the very least, unnecessary roughness?

Wrong. The officials - who were even worse than usual in this game - didn’t flag Elliot for ramming a defenseless receiver in the head.

So the NFL circled back and decided to momentarily punish Elliot for the hit. You would think if they fined him over $43k for a normal tackle, the price tag for this hit would be truly staggering.

Once again, incorrect. The NFL only fined him $9,833 for this dirty collision.

Less than $10k?! My brother wants to buy a used truck for more money than that.

This is a textbook example of the illegal hits the NFL wants to crack down on, with good cause. Mind you, if he hit Patrick Mahomes in this fashion, people would be petitioning to have Elliot thrown in jail. But a receiver for the Patriots? Apparently not a big deal. Guess player safety only matters when the star players get hurt.

The league just proved through both these fines that it doesn't have a clear vision on what football is anymore. And that's bad news. It cannot reconcile it's desire to eliminate cheap hits with allowing defenders to play defense.

Moving forward, the league should let people make tackles, and fine players who target opponents’ heads. That has to be the standard if the NFL wants to sell a watchable product.