Aaron Hernandez, who has been locked up on on murder charges for nearly nine months, has his former New England Patriots team drastically rising in at least one category.
ESPN reports that given the $7.5 million the team still incurs from Hernandez, the Patriots will spend $10 million in dead money, or compensation due players who are no longer on the team roster. Overall the Pats rank dangerously close to a franchise-high 15th among all 32 NFL teams.
Judge upholds gag order in Aaron Hernandez case
The 24-year-old Hernandez remains jailed without bail in the execution-style killing of one-time associate Odin Lloyd. Authorities discovered Lloyd's bullet-riddled body less than a mile from Hernandez's North Attleborough mansion early last summer and investigators have since speculated he may have been killed because he had information about Hernandez's alleged involvement in other violent crimes.
Hernandez is also under investigation amid rumors he was the triggerman in a 2010 drive-by shooting in Boston that left two men dead outside a downtown nightclub.
Hernandez has pleaded not guilty in the Lloyd case and is expected back in court sometime in June.
ESPN adds the Cowboys ($28.8 million), Panthers ($19.9 million) and Steelers ($19.5 million) have the highest dead-money charges going into this season.
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