Report: NFL to return $120 million withheld from players

The NFL will return the $120 million it withheld from its players over the course of three years.

The NFL will return the $120 million it withheld from its players over the course of three years, reportsThe Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Futterman.

The ruling was decided last week by arbitrator Stephen Burbank after a grievance was filed by the league’s union in January.

According to the report, a discrepancy was discovered by an audit of league finances, which revealed that NFL owners created an exemption for three years’ worth of ticket revenue and kept nearly $50 million from players’ salaries.

“They created an exemption out of a fiction and they got caught,” said NFLPA executive director​ DeMaurice Smith.

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NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy called the incident a “technical accounting issue under the CBA involving the funding of stadium construction and renovation projects,” blaming it on timing.