An outcome that the Raiders have feared since the summer has finally happened.
On Friday, Raiders receiver Martavis Bryant was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for breaking the terms of his reinstatement. Speculation of a suspension first popped up over the summer and persisted throughout the season as Bryant failed to make an impact on a three-win Raiders team in the midst of a disastrous year.
On Friday, it was made official.
"Effective immediately, Martavis Bryant has been returned to the Reserve/Commissioner Suspended list indefinitely for violating the terms of his April 2017 conditional reinstatement under the Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse," the NFL said in a statement, via Michael Gehlken of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Raiders WR Martavis Bryant has been suspended indefinitely by NFL. He lost his appeal. Club feared outcome for months. It arrives with Bryant on injured reserve for knee ailment.
— Michael Gehlken (@GehlkenNFL) December 14, 2018
A fourth-round pick of the Steelers back in 2014, Bryant always oozed potential as a big-play receiver, but suspensions for substance-abuse violations held him back. He was suspended four games in 2015 and all of the 2016 season before getting conditionally reinstated before the 2017 season. During this year's draft, after Bryant finally made it through a season, the Raiders gave up a third-round pick for him only to cut him on the eve of the season. Ten days later, the Raiders brought him back. He went on to catch 19 passes for 266 yards in an eight-game season cut short by a knee injury. He landed on injured reserve earlier this month.
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It goes without saying that this yet another trade the Raiders have lost since Jon Gruden took over. As the Raiders try to build for the future by stockpiling picks -- a process that began with their decision to trade away Khalil Mack and continued with the Amari Cooper trade, two players who have turned their new teams into division frontrunners -- they're now stuck with a player who both failed to make an impact when he was eligible to play and is now ineligible to play for both injury and disciplinary reasons. And he came at the cost of a third-round pick. Meanwhile, those picks the Raiders acquired for Mack and Cooper are beginning to lose value as the Bears and Cowboys continue to rip off win after win.
It's been a rough week for the Raiders after a rough few opening months to the season. On Monday, they fired general manager Reggie McKenzie. On Tuesday, Oakland filed a lawsuit against the Raiders for what the city called "an illegal move" to Las Vegas, which could result in the Raiders playing elsewhere in 2019. On Friday, the receiver they acquired for the price of a third-round pick was suspended indefinitely.
As for Bryant, it's not clear what will come next for him. He's still only 26 years old, but his inability to remain eligible to play and his inconsistencies as a player might make it difficult for him to latch onto a new team should he regain eligibility at some point in the future.
