Jimmy Haslam may be having a mild case of buyer’s remorse.
With questions swirling about the knee of top-three draft pick Trent Richardson, a report has now emerged that 2010 top-1o pick Joe Haden could miss the first four games of the season for violating the league’s policy against steroids and related substances.
Will Burge and Tony Grossi of ESPNCleveland.com report that the league currently is “reviewing” a failed drug test for Adderall, a banned substance.
Per the report, Haden has been informed that he tested positive. He apparently has not yet filed an appeal.
If there’s an appeal, the suspension could be delayed indefinitely. Some appeals in the past have taken months to complete; Haden wouldn’t be suspended until the process ends.
For Haden, if he had a prescription to take Adderall, he could finagle a reduction or complete reversal of the suspension. However, recent precedent from the league on that point has been all over the map.
Then again, because teams and the league can say nothing about the reason for a player’s suspension under the steroids policy, it’s possible that Adderall has become the new dog-ate-my-homework-style excuse for players who don’t want to be stigmatized by the “S” word.
For now, all anyone can do is wait and see. The team has said and will say nothing publicly, unless and until the suspension is official.