Eagles OL Lane Johnson's PED suspension is finally official
The NFL officially suspended Lane Johnson for 10 games on Tuesday after an arbitrator denied the appeal of the Eagles offensive tackle.
Johnson tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing substance. It was his second offense. He had been suspended for four games at the start of the 2014 season.
"Johnson's suspension begins immediately," an NFL spokesman said in a statement. "He will be eligible to return to the Eagles' active roster on Dec. 19 following the team's Dec. 18 game against the Baltimore Ravens."
It's unlikely that the decision will be reversed. Johnson claimed that he unknowingly took a supplement that had a banned peptide substance. He said he conferred with the Aegis smart phone app that the NFLPA endorses.
The players' union said that it doesn't endorse the use of supplements.
"We're very disappointed that Lane Johnson has been suspended 10 games," Eagles executive Howie Roseman said in a statement. "His actions have affected the entire organization.
"We are all working under a clearly defined set of rules and regulations set forth by the NFL in the collective bargaining agreement with the NFLPA. Moving forward, he has no choice but to hold himself accountable to Jeffrey Lurie, Coach Pederson and his staff, his teammates, and to the entire organization and our fans.
"When he returns from suspension, we will continue to support him and welcome him back to the team."
If Johnson were to violate the banned susbstance policy again, he would be suspended for at least two years. He will not earn pay for 10 weeks of his $675,000 base salary and he will lose about $1.5 million of his $10 million signing bonus.
Johnson could also forfeit the $2.4 million roster bonus he received in March and the prorated portion of the bonus leftover from his rookie deal.
The remaining $25 million at the signing of his five-year, $56.25 million contract in January is no longer guaranteed. All of Johnson's 2017 salary ($7.75 million) was guaranteed, but the Eagles are unlikely to move on from arguably their best offensive lineman.
Still, it will be difficult to recoup all of the the remaining $8 million from his signing bonus, which is prorated over the next four years.
The Eagles have several options at right tackle, but are expected to promote rookie Halapoulivatti Vaitai instead of moving left guard Allen Barbre outside. Pederson said that Vaitai has improved over the last month of practice.
If the Eagles were to bump Barbre to tackle, as they did during the preseason in preparation for Johnson's likely suspension, either veteran Stefen Wisniewski or rookie Isaac Seumalo would fill in at left guard.