NFL Network analyst suspended for suggesting Eagles put bounty on Ezekiel Elliott

The Sporting News is reporting that NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger has been suspended six months without pay for his controversial comments against Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott. Baldinger went on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia and suggested that the Philadelphia Eagles defense needed to injure Elliott as a key to victory.

“This is the guy that that we’ve got to hurt,” Baldinger said of Elliott. “This is the guy that we’ve got to take out of the game. There’s got to be 10 guys that want to hurt him every single play. In fact, we may even put a little bounty on Ezekiel Elliott.”

NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger has been suspended for controversial comments about Dallas Cowboys rookie Ezekiel Elliott. (Getty Images)

The “b”-word is a no-no in NFL circles, not in light of the New Orleans Saints’ heavy penalties for the bounty scandal, a story that was dug up this week when former Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman Artis Hicks said that his team also had bounties.

Later, Baldinger seemed to channel then-Saints defensive coordinator Gregg Williams when talking about the Eagles and Elliott.

“You want to cut off the head to kill the body, that’s the guy you’ve got to get to,” Baldinger said.

A former NFL player who played 143 games in 13 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, Indianapolis Colts and Eagles, Baldinger has spent the past six years with NFL Network, appearing on several shows on the network. He also serves as a game analyst for the Eagles and announces college football games for Fox.

Elliott is the NFL’s leading rusher with 799 yards. He ran 22 times for 96 yards in the Cowboys’ 29-23 overtime victory over the Eagles on Sunday night.

Interestingly, Baldinger was one of the few known former players who serve as NFL media analysts who was a part of the lawsuit against the NFL for concussions in 2012. Perhaps if Baldinger had thought about what he said regarding Elliott and suggesting the Eagles cut his head off, he might see the irony in such a thing. But now he has six months of free time to do just that.