The Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints were hit with financial fines by the NFL, following multiple brawls in their recent joint-practice session in Oxnard, California. However, that was not enough for team owner of America’s Team, Jerry Jones, as he has gone a step further and displayed the importance of accountability by announcing that players guilty of being involved in the said brawls will be charged individually to make up the $500K fine being imposed on the team. 

The practice session was marked by multiple separate altercations between the 2 teams, including a body slam by Saints TE Brock Rechsteiner on safety Jalen Thompson and a helmet throw by center Erik McCoy. Cowboys defender Donovan Ezeiruaku punched McCoy and was ejected for the 2nd time already this camp. Former NFL Legend, Shannon Sharpe, speaking about this incident, did not agree with Jerry Jones’ decision of imposing individual fines and made his feelings clear on the Nightcap’s recent episode. 

“’Jerry Jones said the Cowboys will internally fine players they deem responsible for the $500,000 organizational fine handed down by the NFL,'” Shannon Sharpe stated on the recent Nightcap episode. “That’s not what the NFL intended that to do when they fined a team; then you try to go back there like, ‘Well, you started it, you started it!’” 

The NFL Competition Committee had previously sent memos to all 32 NFL franchises warning about joint-practice fights and the risk of severe injuries. The NFL handed down organizational fines specifically to hold franchise leadership accountable for player safety.  

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Jerry Jones addressed the punishment during a press conference in Oxnard, where he stated his decision to appeal the fine.

On Nightcap, Chad Johnson supported player discipline, stating that hitting players’ pockets forces them into line. While that $500K might be an inconsequential amount for team owners, for the players, who “care too much about that check,” it will prove to be an amount they would rather not pay, and in turn have much cleaner and mutually respectable joint practices. 

However, Iso Joe Johnson, an avid Cowboys fan, argued that a $500K fine is like pocket change to a billionaire owner. Meaning deducting player paychecks in a way protects ownership from taking accountability for the incident and punishes the roster. 

Jones spoke to the media at a press conference where he broke down why joint practices usually get heated.

“This game is physical and it’s easy to get involved with aggressive temperaments,” Jones said. “All of that makes it a real focal point in the league to stay within good sport. And taking of helmets off and swinging and hitting and that type of thing is not good for anybody and it’s certainly not what we want to represent to our fans as a league or as a team. So it’s understandable how they’re coming down with a real severe fines.”

The Dallas Cowboys will now travel to Glendale for their second preseason matchup against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday, August 22. Jerry Jones, for one, will be hoping that disciplinary reasons don’t cause them to miss valuable preparation ahead of the upcoming 2026 season.