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Pewter Report earlier today reported that Mike Williams had been fined $200,000 for missing rehab and team meetings this past season, and that he was in danger of being released next offseason, in part because...he posted a lot of partying pictures on Instagram. Yeah. Mike Williams and his agent responded fairly swiftly.
Now here's that football-related Instagram Mark Dominik wanted so much to see.
Setting aside the ridiculous questions raised about Williams' commitment to football because he posts things on Instagram, it seems that the allegations of the fines may not be correct, either. Williams' agent Hadley Engelhard told Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune that he was not aware of any fines for missed team meetings or rehab appointments, that there was no immediate rehab required following surgery, and that the only fines Williams' received that he was aware of were for uniform violations.
Furthermore, the team could not fine Williams for missing team meetings while on injured reserve, because that's not allowed by the CBA. The team could fine Williams for missing rehab appointments, but the fact that rehab wasn't immediately required makes that a little less likely. Moreover, the CBA-determined maximum fine for missing an appointment with a club physician or trainer, or for a "material failure to follow club rehabilitation directions" is $9,440 -- which means Williams would have had to miss at least 22 rehab meetings to get to $200,000 in fines.
So, this story is a little weird. Add in the fact that the Bucs would have to absorb Williams' 2014 and 2015 salaries if they were to cut him, and it becomes even weirder. He's not going to get cut with over $6.4 million in guaranteed money remaining on his contract. All of this seems like a bunch of nonsense, really.
