Conduct detrimental? Colts, Trent Richardson at odds

Colts running back Trent Richardson hasn't lived up to the expectations created by the blockbuster trade that brought him to Indianapolis. About that there is no debate.

But here's an issue that's much less clear: Is Richardson guilty of engaging in conduct detrimental to the team?

That's what the Colts are, in effect, alleging based on their decision to suspend Richardson for two games without pay for not contacting the team prior to missing the walkthrough and flight before last month's AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots. However, sources said his absence was the result of serious complications with his girlfriend's pregnancy that could potentially have endangered the life of the child.

These sources said the mother was experiencing contractions and appeared to be in premature labor at just 28 weeks of pregnancy.

Richardson, sources said, rushed her to the hospital in the early-morning hours of Jan. 17 — the same day the team departed for the New England game — missing that morning's walkthrough in Indianapolis and the team's chartered flight.

Now, the Colts' handling of Richardson could come under scrutiny because being suspended for conduct detrimental to the team allows the Colts to cut the underperforming running back without paying the final season of his current contract.

Default language in Richardson's contract permits the Colts to release him and void the remaining $3.184 million in guaranteed money for a wide range of reasons. Those reasons include a failure to report, incarceration and — as is the case here — suspension by the team.

If the Colts release Richardson, who was the third overall pick in the 2012 draft, and withhold his 2015 salary, things will almost certainly get contentious. Such action would likely prompt his agent to file a grievance on Richardson's behalf, with an arbitrator ultimately deciding whether the team's position is justified.

Even without a documented violation of the default clause, the Colts could still cut Richardson. But under that scenario, the team would be obligated to pay him for 2015 because his base salary is guaranteed.

General Manager Ryan Grigson has said the suspension was levied for "personal reasons," but neither he nor any other team official has publicly expounded beyond that. Multiple sources said Richardson failed to contact team officials about his absence in a timely manner and was disciplined for that reason.

There have been other issues with Richardson, but they don't factor into the fight over his guaranteed money. Richardson was fined for missing a meeting on Nov. 17, the day after the Colts' regular-season meeting with the Patriots.

He also has been fined by the team for not meeting weight requirements, but those matters are governed separately from conduct under the NFL's collective bargaining agreement. Teams may require players to maintain prescribed weights, and the Colts did so with Richardson. He was fined multiple times for weight by the team, sources said.

For the 2014 season, the collective bargaining agreement permitted teams to fine players a maximum of $545 per pound per day, with fines assessed no more than twice a week. It's not known how much Richardson was fined under this policy or how far over his 227-pound weight limit he was.

NFL teams do occasionally suspend players for conduct detrimental. It was cited when former Miami Dolphins guard Richie Incognito was suspended for his role in the bullying scandal that engulfed the franchise in 2013. Another Dolphin, Derrick Shelby, was suspended one game last season for conduct detrimental after he was arrested on charges of trespassing and resisting arrest without violence. And Chicago Bears tight end Martellus Bennett was suspended a week for conduct detrimental last August after he body-slammed teammate Kyle Fuller during a training camp fight. The collective bargaining agreement outlines limits on how teams can discipline players but does not define what qualifies as conduct detrimental to the team.

That the Colts are likely to part with Richardson is no surprise. He's struggled in his two seasons with the team after Grigson infamously traded a first-round pick to the Cleveland Browns to acquire him in 2013.

Richardson lost his starting job two years in a row — to Donald Brown late in 2013 and to Boom Herron in 2014.

Follow Star reporter Stephen Holder on Twitter: @HolderStephen.