The Washington Commanders face the Miami Dolphins in Week 11 in Madrid, Spain. It’s the NFL’s first-ever game in Spain and a bit of a vacation for players from both teams, even as they still must prepare for the game. Unfortunately, some players weren’t able to travel with the team, including quarterback Jayden Daniels (elbow injury) and defensive tackle Daron Payne (suspended).
While he doesn’t have the name value of Daniels or Payne, rookie linebacker Ale Kaho will miss Sunday’s game. He suffered a concussion in last week’s loss to the Detroit Lions. It was the play on which he was injured that cost Kaho a week in Spain.
Kaho’s rough week continued on Saturday, when the NFL fined him $46,371 “for use of the helmet.” Here’s the play that cost Kaho almost $47K and an international trip.
This is the play — a kickoff at the start of the 3Q against Detroit — that got Commanders LB Ale Kaho concussed and cost him $46,371 in fines and a week in Madrid. pic.twitter.com/zNQPMLLOkR
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) November 15, 2025
That’s a hefty fine. In fact, it was the largest fine the NFL handed for Week 11. Kaho, an undrafted rookie, has a base salary of $840,000 this season. When you break that down over 18 weeks, it turns out to be even more costly than you could imagine. Ben Standig of “Last Man Standig” did the math.
Kaho’s salary is $840,000.
That comes to $46,667 weekly over 18 weeks.
That means this UDFA earned $296 (pre-tax) last week. https://t.co/isBj1hwZIZ
— Ben Standig (@BenStandig) November 15, 2025
It’s worth noting that this is Kaho’s second fine in 2025, for illegal use of the helmet. However, this feels a bit steep. Shouldn’t the NFL hand out fines proportionate to what a player makes?
From the same game, Lions WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was fined $12,172 for throwing the first punch at Commanders DT Daron Payne. Meanwhile, Payne was suspended for Week 11. St. Brown’s base salary is $8.3 million in 2025, per Over the Cap.
That’s a tough and disappointing week for Kaho. With the Commanders off in Week 12, Kaho will have plenty of time to recover for Washington’s Week 13 game against the Broncos.
This article originally appeared on Commanders Wire: Washington Commanders: Last week was costly for rookie LB Ale Kaho
