The NFL suspended San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York for six games on Friday and fined him $500,000. Police arrested York on Aug. 23 in East Palestine, Ohio, after he answered a fake prostitution ad they had posted. He pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors, disorderly conduct and possessing criminal tools. York had already stayed away from the team's first three games, and the league counted them toward the ban. He's eligible to return on Oct. 20. "This was an inexcusable mistake and I take full responsibility," York said. The league gave Colts owner Jim Irsay the same penalty in 2014 after an impaired-driving plea.

1. Owners Get Off Easy Compared to Players

Critics say a suspended player loses his pay, while a suspended owner keeps collecting.

Suspended players lose their pay, and suspended owners don't. Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk says a suspended player "loses all of his compensation." Florio wrote that a suspended owner just can't go to the games and "still gets his full cut of the massive revenues."

The fine is tiny next to what the 49ers make. The team got $453.2 million in shared league revenue in its latest fiscal year, and $500,000 is about 0.11% of that. Florio called the fine "a drop in the bucket." Deshaun Watson's 11-game suspension in 2022 cost him $632,500 in salary. Calvin Ridley's 2022 suspension cost him a guaranteed $11.1 million.

The league promised to be tougher on owners, and it wasn't. The NFL's conduct policy says owners will face "more significant discipline" than others. Olamilekan Ajayi of Gridiron Heroics notes that the league copied Irsay's 2014 penalty twelve years later. Yardbarker's Chris Pownall warned in August that for wealthy owners, "a fine can become little more than an expensive nuisance."

2. The League Matched Its Precedent, and York Accepted It

York accepted the ruling, and his coach says the team already knows how to run without him.

York got Irsay's exact penalty. Irsay got six games and $500,000 in 2014 after pleading guilty to impaired driving.

York took the punishment without a fight. He said he accepts the decision "in full." 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said the ruling gave the team clarity. "Now we know how it's going to be," he said. "It's already been three weeks like that, just working that way, and we got three more weeks of it."

3. But York Should Stay Away Even After His Suspension Ends

This camp says York should keep his distance even after Oct. 20.

The team is winning without him. The 49ers are 3-0. Grant Cohn of 49ers On SI says York should let team CEO Al Guido and Shanahan keep running things. "You don't play quarterback or convert third downs or make tackles," Cohn wrote. "You don't need to make this season about you any more than you already have."

If York comes back, the season becomes about him. Cohn wants York to stay in the background and let other people get the credit. Staying in the background is "the best thing you can do for your franchise after embarrassing it," he wrote.

Where This Lands

The NFL gave York exactly what it gave Irsay in 2014, and York accepted it. Florio and other critics say that penalty is too light, because a suspended player loses his pay and an owner keeps his share of league revenue. Cohn says York should keep his distance even after he's eligible to return on Oct. 20, and let Guido and Shanahan run the team.

Sources