NFL Suspends Troubled Star Indefinitely After Another Substance Abuse Issue
After months of speculation regarding his future, the NFL finally announced Friday it was suspending Oakland Raiders receiver Martavis Bryant.
Bryant was facing a year-long suspension in September for violating the league’s substance abuse policy, leading the Raiders to release him during final cuts.
But Bryant was eventually allowed to play while the suspension was being appealed, and the Raiders re-signed him on a week-to-week contract.
Bryant started two games for Oakland this season, catching 19 passes for 266 yards. He was injured in Week 10 and placed on injured reserve earlier this month.
This will be Bryant’s third suspension since he was drafted in 2014. He was suspended twice while playing for the Steelers, which was a large part of why Pittsburgh traded him to Oakland during the 2018 draft.
Bryant missed four games in 2015 for violating the league’s substance abuse policy and then missed the entire 2016 season for another violation.
Expected to be a big part of Oakland’s receiving core in 2018, Bryant was not the only Raiders receiver to struggle this season.
Amari Cooper had just 280 receiving yards in six games with the team before being traded to Dallas. In the same number of games with the Cowboys, Cooper has posted 642 receiving yards.
Jordy Nelson, meanwhile, was an offseason free agent addition, but he hasn’t really made the impact the team had hoped for.
Nelson has topped 50 receiving yards just twice all season and hasn’t scored a touchdown since Oct. 7. He gained 270 yards combined in his best two games but has just 228 yards over the other 10 games.
The NFL announced Bryant’s suspension just minutes before the Raiders departed for Sunday’s game at Cincinnati, according to ESPN. This was the latest big news in what’s been a tumultuous week for the organization.
On Monday, the team fired general manager Reggie McKenzie, who was instrumental in trading for Bryant on draft day. Oakland sent a third-round pick to Pittsburgh for Bryant, and McKenzie treated the receiver as if he was Oakland’s own draft pick.
“Martavis was all about being able to use that [extra] pick and get another player,” McKenzie said in April, according to NBC Sports. “We feel like we’ve drafted Martavis Bryant.”
On Tuesday, the city of Oakland filed a lawsuit against the Raiders and called their upcoming departure to Las Vegas an “illegal move,” CBS Sports reported.
The lawsuit says the city is seeking compensation for the damages that have been and will be caused to the people of Oakland.
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