You read that headline correctly. Aldon Smith is likely the first player in NFL history, if not professional sports, to pay the team that he is playing for.
Smith is serving a well-documented nine game suspension for league violations. Of course, he is also losing money for each of those games, meaning Smith will lose more than a half a season's worth of salary.
It gets worse for Smith though. He still owes the 49ers for signing bonus forfeiture - money the Niners are taking straight from his paychecks:
https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/531473988208590848
The numbers shake out like this: Smith's salary for the 2014 season will be $1.099 million after reductions of nine gameday checks for his suspension.
After taxes, Smith's net total salary will be $525,000. Due to a loss of signing bonus, Smith will owe the 49ers $1.18 million in losses.
That means his $525,000 is not enough to cover what he still owes San Francisco. That results in $661,000 still owed to the team after all figures are accounted for.
Smith is set to return from his suspension in Week 11, and while he is going to play, he's essentially paying the 49ers for his own services.
Maybe by now Smith has learned his lesson.
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