Updated

Updated · The Denver Post · Jun 12

Broncos' Jonathon Cooper Arrested Again, Gets $5,000 Bond on Protection Order Charges

Updated

Updated · The Denver Post · Jun 12

Broncos' Jonathon Cooper Arrested Again, Gets $5,000 Bond on Protection Order Charges

Q: With a $60 million contract at stake, can the Broncos cut ties with Jonathon Cooper before his trial concludes?

Yes. The Broncos do not have to wait for Jonathon Cooper’s criminal case to end before releasing him. An NFL team can cut a player at any time, subject to the terms of his contract and the salary cap. The bigger issue here is not whether Denver can do it, but how expensive it would be. Cooper’s four-year, $60 million extension likely includes guaranteed money and prorated bonus money that would remain on the Broncos’ cap as “dead money” if he is released. Because it is already after June 1, Denver could lessen the immediate cap hit by using post-June 1 treatment, spreading some of that dead money over two seasons. The NFL’s personal conduct policy also gives the league broad authority to act before a criminal verdict. The league can place a player on paid administrative leave in some cases or suspend him based on its own investigation, which uses a lower standard than a criminal court. A team does not need a conviction to decide that a player’s conduct, availability or public-relations risk warrants a separation. What makes this case more serious for Denver is the new arrest, the alleged protection-order violation, and the updated affidavit describing strangulation-related injuries. Those developments increase both league-discipline risk and pressure on the club. So the Broncos can move on now if they choose. The real calculation is whether they are willing to absorb the financial and cap consequences before the legal process is finished.

3 articles · Updated · The Denver Post · Jun 12

$5,000 personal recognizance bond was set for Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper after his second arrest in a week on misdemeanor harassment and protection-order violation charges.
Police say Cooper sent nearly 20 texts, made FaceTime and social-media calls, and later knocked on his former girlfriend's door for 5 to 10 minutes a day after both were barred from contact.
An updated affidavit from the June 4 altercation says a forensic nurse found signs of strangulation with hypoxia and traumatic brain injury; Cooper already faces felony and misdemeanor charges from that incident.
Judge Mark Solomon barred Cooper from leaving Colorado without court approval and declined prosecutors' request for an ankle monitor; hearings are scheduled for July 14 and July 22-23.
The Broncos said they are reviewing the matter, while the NFL said it remains under the personal conduct policy, which carries a baseline suspension of up to six games for assault.