Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib is facing a one-game suspension for poking the eyes of Colts tight end Dwayne Allen during Sunday’s game, reports Mike Klis of 9News. Talib, who has claimed the eye-poke was intentional, is appealing the penalty, tweets Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com.
As Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk tweets, Talib will have expedited appeal rights to an arbitrator jointly hired by the NFL and NFLPA, so a decision on the suspension figures to come by Wednesday. If the ban is upheld, Denver will be without two key defenders – Talib and DeMarcus Ware – for its next game.
Assuming Talib’s one-game suspension sticks, it’ll cost him just under $353K, tweets Jason Fitzgerald of Over the Cap. That figure takes into account 1/17th of Talib’s $5.5MM salary for 2015, along with 1/17th of his $500K per-game roster bonuses.
Definitely justified, even if Talib’s story of Allen flopping is true. Denver is covered during this absence, with Bradley Roby playing well and Kayvon Webster having solid measurables but not much experience despite being in his third year. The fact the Chiefs don’t feature much receiver depth may not make Talib’s ban impact too much.