Receiver Plaxico Burress can keep his $1 million bonus, but the Chiefs aren't obligated to pay running back Larry Johnson his guaranteed salary and bonuses over the next two seasons.
That was the ruling NFL Players Association general counsel Richard Berthelsen said Special Master Stephen Burbank issued Monday after the union's grievance hearing last week.
Burbank ruled bonus money already earned cannot be forfeited by a player, meaning the Giants cannot dock Burress $1 million he earned as part of a new contract he signed in August, Berthelsen said.
As for Johnson, Burbank ruled that if the Chiefs cut him, they do not have to pay him a $3.5 million guaranteed salary next season because he breached his contract after being suspended last season, Berthelsen said.
Burress, who was released by the Giants last week, was charged with felony gun possession after he accidentally shot himself in November. That case has been adjourned until June 15 as Burress' attorneys and prosecutors continue to discuss a potential plea deal.
According to Burress' agent, multiple teams have already asked about the wide receiver.
"There are several teams interest in signing (Burress)," Drew Rosenhaus said in an email to FOXSports.com. "My discussions with them are ongoing."
The Giants suspended Burress, who also was fined and finished the season on the team's non-football injury list. The union filed a separate grievance over what it termed excessive punishment by the Giants. His suspension cost him more than $800,000 in salary. The team also fined him more than $200,000, his single-game salary.
It's a potentially precedent-setting decision that could determine whether NFL teams can override guarantees negotiated into contracts should a player violate team or league rules. Unlike North America's three other major professional sports leagues, NFL contracts are not guaranteed if a player is released unless those terms were negotiated into the deal.
It's also a decision that might affect how the Cleveland Browns handle their contract with receiver Donte Stallworth, who faces charges that he was driving drunk when he killed a pedestrian last month in Miami.
Stallworth was due a $4.5 million roster bonus on March 13, the day before the accident. Though Stallworth remains on the Browns' roster, it's not clear whether the team paid the bonus.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
