Reports of a possible arrest warrant against New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez could cost the NFL player nearly $37 million if it is issued.
ABC News first reported Friday that a spokesman for the Attleborough District Court in North Attleborough, Mass., confirmed that a warrant has been drawn up against Hernandez on obstruction of justice charges based on the possible destruction of evidence in connection with the shooting death of his friend, but not yet issued by the court.
USA Today reported later Friday that if he winds up in legal trouble in connection with the homicide, he stands to lose his signing bonus plus the remainder of his five-year, $40 million contract.
"One point of emphasis for the NFL during the 2011 negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement was inserting language into the new deal that would allow teams to recoup signing bonus money from players who are imprisoned or suspended," the report stated.
That rule went into effect, USA Today said, after the New York Giants tried, and failed, to withhold a $1 million signing bonus payment to wide receiver Plaxico Burress after he shot himself in the leg in a New York City nightclub in 2008.
At the time, the only language in the CBA about a team's ability to withhold money involved a player forfeiting bonus money because of a "willful" action, such as a holdout.
The NFL fought to give teams greater latitude in withholding a player's signing bonus.
Hernandez reportedly has earned $2.5 million of his signing bonus and another $750,000 as part of his contract. His five-year contract extension guaranteed him a $12.5 million signing bonus total.
"It's hard to say at this point what he's going to lose," former player agent Joel Corry, now a contract and salary-cap analyst for the National Football Post and CBSSports.com, told USA Today. "But even if he's not charged, it should trigger a suspension under the personal conduct policy."
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