Bills General Manager Doug Whaley said that the team was “disappointed” to learn of defensive tackle Marcell Dareus’ arrest on synthetic marijuana charges this week, but a report from Tim Graham of the Buffalo News suggests they weren’t particularly surprised.
Graham reports that the Bills have had concerns about Dareus’ marijuana use since Chan Gailey was the team’s coach, which basically means that they have been concerned about it for pretty much Dareus’ entire tenure since Gailey was fired after the 2012 season and Dareus joined the team in 2011. That concern has reportedly led to discussions with Dareus, but “nobody has been able to convince” Dareus to just say no up to this point.
Those concerns didn’t stop the Bills from exercising Dareus’ fifth-year option, although his 2015 contract his guaranteed against injury only so the Bills could walk away from Dareus before next season starts. Given how well he has played, that’s not something they want to do but further troubles could change the outlook in Buffalo.
After the Bills brought in other players with some off-field concerns this offseason, including wide receiver Mike Williams and linebacker Brandon Spikes, coach Doug Marrone said that they “understand that stuff is not going to be tolerated” in Buffalo. There’s no line in the sand, but making those words count for something will take action at some point.