The Commissioner's Exempt List is paid leave that only the NFL commissioner can order. A player is placed on it while a criminal case or league investigation is pending. He gets his full salary, he does not count against the 53-man roster, and he cannot practice or play. It is not a suspension: any discipline comes later, under the personal conduct policy, once the case is resolved.
Updated Sept. 16, 2026.
Updated Sept. 16, 2026. Every player below is paid in full, sits outside the 53-man roster, and cannot practice or play until the commissioner removes him.
| Player | Pos | Team | Placed | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Josh Jacobs | RB | Green Bay Packers | Aug. 30, 2026 | Charged Aug. 27 with misdemeanor battery and criminal damage to property from a May 26 incident near his Green Bay home. First court date is Nov. 17. Green Bay traded for Steelers RB Kaleb Johnson the same weekend. |
| Jonathon Cooper | OLB | Denver Broncos | Aug. 30, 2026 | Arrested twice in a seven-day span in June on domestic violence charges, including a felony count of second-degree assault by strangulation and three misdemeanors. Pleaded not guilty Aug. 31; trial set for Nov. 10. |
| Terrion Arnold | CB | Seattle Seahawks | Aug. 30, 2026 | Faces eight felony counts, including kidnapping and armed robbery, from a February incident in Tampa. Detroit released him after his June arrest; Seattle signed him Aug. 29 knowing he would go straight onto the list. He may attend meetings but cannot practice or play. |
Only Commissioner Roger Goodell can put a player on the exempt list or take him off. The league's own manual calls it a special status for unusual circumstances, and no exemption is automatic. In practice it is used when a player faces a violent-crime charge and the league wants him off the field before the legal process, which can take months, plays out.
While he is on the list the player is paid in full, his contract keeps running, and his cap hit still counts against the team. The team gets his roster spot back, since exempt players sit outside the 53, but it keeps paying for a player it cannot use. With the club's permission he can be at the facility for meetings, individual workouts and medical treatment. He cannot practice, cannot travel with the team and cannot play.
There is no fixed length. He comes off when the commissioner removes him, usually after the case ends or the league finishes its own review. At that point the league decides whether to suspend him under the personal conduct policy, and time already spent on the exempt list can be credited against that suspension.
| Status | Who decides | Paid? | On the 53? | Can practice? | Why |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commissioner's Exempt List | Commissioner | Yes, full salary | No | No | Pending criminal case or league investigation |
| Suspension | Commissioner (personal conduct or substance policies) | No, game checks forfeited | No | No | Discipline after a finding of a violation |
| Injured reserve (IR) | Team | Yes | No | Once designated to return | Football injury; out at least four games |
| Physically unable to perform (PUP) | Team | Yes | No | No, until activated | Football injury carried into camp; regular-season PUP means four games minimum |
| Non-football injury (NFI) | Team | At the team's discretion | No | No, until activated | Injury or illness not suffered playing for the team |
As of Sept. 16, 2026: Packers RB Josh Jacobs (placed Aug. 30, 2026), Broncos OLB Jonathon Cooper (placed Aug. 30, 2026) and Seahawks CB Terrion Arnold (placed Aug. 30, 2026). Each is being paid in full, sits outside the 53-man roster, and cannot practice or play while his case is pending.
Yes. A player on the exempt list gets his full salary and benefits, his contract keeps running, and his cap hit still counts against the team. The club pays for a player it cannot use.
No. It is paid leave while a case is pending, not discipline. A suspension costs the player game checks; the exempt list does not. Any suspension is decided later under the personal conduct policy, and time on the exempt list can be credited against it.
There is no set limit. A player stays on it until the commissioner takes him off, which usually follows the end of the criminal case or the league's own investigation. Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy each spent 15 games on it in 2014.
No. Exempt players sit outside the 53-man limit, so the team can fill the spot. His salary still counts against the salary cap.
He cannot practice, travel or play. With the team's permission he can be at the facility for meetings, individual workouts and medical treatment, which is the arrangement Josh Jacobs and Terrion Arnold have.
Only the commissioner. A team can ask, and in 2014 Greg Hardy agreed to be placed on it, but the league's manual says no exemption is automatic and the commissioner alone sets whether it has an end date.
Category: Roster Management. Part of the StickToTheModel NFL Encyclopedia.