Bengals DE Joseph Ossai's new contract comes in handy as the NFL hits him with news he's never received before

The infraction occurred with 13:40 remaining in the fourth quarter of Cincinnati's 31-27 victory over the Jaguars. Ossai grabbed the facemask of Jacksonville wide receiver Parker Washington as he intended to tackle him. Washington broke free and ran for two yards, but the penalty gave the Jags a first down anyways.

Joseph Ossai Career Facts:

• Ossai was drafted 70th overall in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the Bengals.
• Ossai has played in 49 career games for Cincinnati, as well as appearances in three playoff games. He's racked up 76 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and seven tackles for loss in his career thus far.
• The Bengals re-signed Ossai to a one-year, $6.5 million contract this offseason.

Ossai and the Bengals won the game, but just under 7% of his game check was docked for the infraction, which had never happened to him before.

Joseph Ossai's first fine comes after his first veteran contract

This is the first time Ossai has ever been fined in his career. $11k for a first-time offense is no joke, as only four of the 19 total fines from Week 2 exceeded that amount. Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley was fined a league-high $46,371 for "Use of the Helmet."

It definitely helps that Ossai's game checks are much larger than they used to be when he was playing on a rookie contract. His base salary in 2024 was $1,368,084, so this fine would've been a little over 14% of his payment for playing last week.

Ossai put pen-to-paper on a one-year $6.5 million contract in March that will pay him $2.9 million as a base salary for the season. He will also receive up to $500,000 in per game roster bonuses for playing each week. He's already locked in with a $3 million signing bonus, and a $100,000 offseason workout bonus.

Ossai is the first Bengal to be fined this year, and with 15 more games remaining, he won't be the last.