The NFL announced on Sunday that it has placed Denver Broncos outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper on the Commissioner's Exempt List.
Cooper is not permitted to practice or attend games while on the list, but he is allowed to be at the team's facility and attend meetings.
Cooper currently faces several domestic violence charges following two arrests in June.
Cooper, 28, was originally arrested June 4 by police in Parker, Colo., along with his girlfriend following an argument and physical confrontation after she accused him of infidelity, according to a police affidavit. Later that week, prosecutors dropped charges against Cooper's girlfriend and added charges against Cooper, including a felony charge of second-degree assault by strangulation, while also granting the woman a protection order. The new charges stemmed from a forensic nurse’s examination of Cooper’s girlfriend at a hospital during which the nurse wrote that the woman experienced an injury from being choked that led to a “substantial risk of death” or substantial risk of injury, including the possibility of a traumatic brain injury, according to court records.
Cooper was later arrested a second time on multiple charges that he violated the protection order. Cooper was accused of sending 20 messages and making two unanswered phone calls to his girlfriend before going to her apartment and knocking on her door, according to the arrest affidavit. He left when she called 911.
Cooper participated in Broncos training camp after he was held out of minicamp in June.
A seventh-round draft pick out of Ohio State in 2021, Cooper is entering his sixth season with the Broncos. He’s had at least eight sacks in each of the last three campaigns, including a career-best 10.5 in 2024, when he signed a four-year contract extension worth up to $60 million.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.