A Detroit Lions’ pass rusher gets suspended once again
After suffering through two separate suspensions last season, Detroit Lions defensive end Armonty Bryant will now miss the first four games of 2017 for substance abuse.
Through the first half of last season, the Detroit Lions took a chance on a player with a troubled past. After being suspended for the first four games of the 2016 regular season for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drugs policy, Cleveland Browns’ situational pass rusher Armonty Bryant was waived by his team last October.
The Lions claimed Bryant to aid their ailing defense. They got five games and 3.0 sacks out of him before another three game suspension for a substance abuse violation and an injury ended his season in Detroit prematurely.
At only 27-years old and after posting solid production through the first four seasons of his career, the Lions opted to sign Bryant to a modest one-year, $855,000 contract in March.
For their faith in Bryant, the team was informed on Tuesday that the troubled defender has once again been suspended. This time it’s a four-game ban for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. At this point, it is unclear if Bryant has run out of chances.
The good news, if there is any to be had in this situation, is that Bryant is still eligible to take part in all team activities when training camp kicks off later this month and through the preseason.
But when the regular season begins, the situational pass rusher will not be eligible to return to the Lions’ active roster until October 2nd. That would make Bryant’s first possible game appearance Detroit’s Week Five matchup against the Carolina Panthers.
Unfortunately, this is not an unexpected turn in Bryant’s career. Prior to being selected by the Browns in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft, the young defender had been arrested twice in college for trying to sell $20 worth of marijuana to undercover officers. And a week after he was drafted, Bryant was arrested for DUI.
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The troubling patterned continued when Bryant was indicted on two counts of felony drug possession in February of last year following a Christmas arrest with a teammate. He plead guilty to attempted drug possession.