The murder case involving Aaron Hernandez was in court last week for a pretrial hearing and now the former New England Patriots tight end is in the news again, but this time it is involving his old team, the NFL Players Association and money, money, money.
According to ESPN.com, courses told ESPNBoston.com reporters that the NFLPA has filed multiple grievances against the Patriots in regards to salary on behalf of Hernandez. The report says that there are two grievances being filed, one for his base salary for this season, which is just over $1.3 million, as well as his salary for next season, which is just over $1.1 million, as well as a workout bonus that was part of his contract. The report also says that it is for his $3.25 million signing bonus and while Hernandez is currently in jail accused of murder, rules are rules, and that is why the NFLPA is trying to get the money back on his behalf.
Hernandez pleaded not guilty in his case regarding the first degree murder charge for the death of Odin Lloyd and the report from ESPN.com says that the NFLPA previously filed a grievance about a workout bonus for just under $85,000, saying in a statement that it is their responsibility to "protect" players rights and in a way it's like the MLBPA defending Alex Rodriguez, as no matter who the player is, they are still a player in that union and have the right to be defended. Either way, Hernandez is currently facing a possible murder trial and life sentence and that obviously would end any chance of him having a future NFL career again.
The ESPN.com article says that teams can recover bonus money without cap penalties "if a player violates one of the league's personal-conduct policies or defaults on contract language" and that's basically what owner Robert Kraft cited when the grievance was filed, saying: "Simple: you can look at our history. We honor all of our contracts, and we expect the people who sign them to honor their part of their contract."
Hernandez's fiance was in court this past week to answer to perjury charges and she pleaded not guilty to one count of perjury after being indicted for lying to a grand jury. Hernandez will be back in court later this month and Jenkins will also have to continue fighting her charge. Another person in the case, Carlos Ortiz, will be arraigned this month and Hernandez could possibly go trial sometime next year. His fiancé could end up being found guilty for perjury, but that needs to move through the courts still.