Deactivation costs Simpson $60K

EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) — Jerome Simpson’s deactivation Sunday cost him a chance to help the Minnesota Vikings against the Washington Redskins. It also cost the receiver a pretty good chunk of change.

Simpson said Wednesday that every time he is deactivated from a game it costs him $60,000 in bonus money. The Vikings built that clause into his one-year contract because the former Cincinnati Bengal was coming off a drug arrest which eventually resulted in a three-game suspension to start the season.

The Vikings deactivated Simpson because of a back issue that caused numbness in one of his legs and limited him the previous week. Simpson was frustrated because he felt he was ready to play, but coach Leslie Frazier said he didn’t see quite enough from him in practice last week to let him play against the Redskins.

“You lose $60,000, you’d be mad, too. You know?” Simpson said. “We just talked about it, and we’re on the same page. I’m just a competitor, man. I just want to be out there on that field. Anytime something gets taken away from you you’re obviously going to be kind of upset about it.”

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