Discipline still cost teams money across the NFL this season, just not as much as last year.
New analysis from The Action Network shows NFL teams were fined a combined $8,532,506 across 428 infractions during the 2025-26 season.
The Washington Commanders finished No. 1 in total fines, but the league-wide totals dropped a lot compared to 2024-25.
Key Takeaways
- $8.53 million fined league-wide across 428 infractions
- Fines dropped nearly 30% year-over-year
- Washington Commanders led the NFL with $1.49M in fines
- Dallas Cowboys had the most infractions (25) but ranked 8th in total money lost
- Indianapolis Colts were the least fined team, losing just $32,352
- Daron Payne recorded the largest individual fine at $1.1M
Most Fined NFL Teams (2025-26)
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No team paid more in fines than the Washington Commanders. Their $1.49 million total led the NFL and nearly doubled the second-place Pittsburgh Steelers, so there’s a clear gap at the top. A big chunk of Washington’s number came from one major suspension, which does a lot of the heavy lifting in that league-leading total.
And it wasn’t spread evenly either. Washington, Pittsburgh, and the San Francisco 49ers combined for roughly 35% of all fine money handed out, so a small group of teams drove a big share of the league’s discipline bill.
After those top teams, the totals fall off fast. Only four franchises cleared $500,000, while four teams stayed under $100,000. That range says a lot about how different teams played it this season. Whether that’s style of play, coaching emphasis, or just avoiding the dumb stuff, each one tells a different story.
Dallas is the weird one. The Cowboys led the NFL in infractions with 25, but they ranked eighth in total dollars. That usually means lots of smaller violations, and not a couple of massive hits that blow up the team total.
Most Fined NFL Players This Season
On the player side, one fine towers over the rest. Daron Payne’s $1.1 million fine was the biggest single punishment of the 2025-26season, and it had a big impact on both his team’s total and the league-wide leaderboard.
Seattle’s D.K. Metcalf was the priciest repeat offender. He had three separate infractions and finished with more than $580,000 in fines, which is a good reminder of how fast it adds up when it’s not just a one-time thing.
George Pickens’ name popped up a lot, too. The wide receiver logged six infractions, the highest total among notable players, proof that repeat issues can be expensive even if none of them is the single biggest fine.
In total, more than 300 individual players were fined during the 2025-26 season. Our conclusion? The huge numbers get the attention, but the discipline money touches rosters across the league.
Year-over-Year Comparison
2024-25 Season
- Total Fines: $12M+
- Total Infractions: 553
- Most Fined Team: Houston Texans
- Texans Total: $3M+
- Only team to exceed $1 million
2025-26 Season
- Total Fines: $8.53M
- Total Infractions: 428
- Most Fined Team: Washington Commanders
- Commanders Total: $1.49M
What Changed?
- Fines dropped by roughly $3.5M
- Infractions declined by 125
- The highest team total fell by more than 50%
- No team crossed the $2M mark in 2025-26
So why the drop? It looks like 2025-26 just didn’t have the same handful of massive, headline suspensions that blew up last year’s totals. And although the smaller stuff still happened, it just didn’t get stacked on top of a few monster penalties.
Overall, the league had fewer infractions and fewer total dollars attached to them. Same rulebook, smaller bill.
Methodology
Fine data for the 2025-26 season was collected from publicly available NFL fine records via Spotrac.
All player fines were pulled and aggregated by team for each respective season, tracking:
- Number of fines
- Total amount fined
- Fines per player
- Fines per position
- Suspensions and time served
Team totals represent the sum of all individual player fines attributed to each franchise.
Data was finalized and locked prior to publication. You can find the data set in full here.
