Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict not only wants his three-game suspension reduced, he wants to sit and discuss the matter with Roger Goodell face-to-face, ESPN.com reported Tuesday.
Burfict, who earned the ban for a hit to Antonio Brown’s head late in the Bengals' wild-card loss to the Steelers last Saturday, is reportedly willing to meet Goodell at NFL headquarters in New York.
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NFL vice president of football operations Merton Hanks, who levied the three-game suspension, said Burfict "placed his opponent at unnecessary risk of injury and should have been avoided." Brown is currently under concussion protocol as Pittsburgh prepares for a divisional-round battle with the Denver Broncos.
If Burfict’s suspension is upheld, he stands to lose $502,941 of his 2016 base salary.
Burfict was fined twice in 2013 for hits around the head and neck, and four times earlier this season, including three plays against the Steelers on Dec. 13.