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Martavis Bryant Facing Possible One Year Suspension
As Profootballtalk.com framed it: "Martavis Bryant apparently hasn't chosen football over marijuana. ..." In news first reported by Dejan Kovacevic of DKPittsburghsports.com, Bryant is "facing a season-long suspension."

And it does indeed appear that fantasy football owners should steal themselves for this one.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport and FOXSports' Mike Garafolo are reporting the same. In addition, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, in confirming the report, adds that Bryant's agent says the suspension has been appealed.

“Per team policy, we’ll have no comment until there’s an announcement from the NFL,” Steelers spokesman Burt Lauten told Kovacevic this afternoon.

As PFT's Mike Florio explained, with final say for these infractions now possessed by an independent panel of arbitrators, negotiations between the NFL and the union can be much more meaningful.

Florio went on to suggest if this flows from the continuation of issues that Bryant said after serving a four-game suspension in 2015 "are behind me now," it's unclear why Bryant has skipped over the 10-game suspension and went straight to what would be, technically, a banishment with the ability to apply for reinstatement after one calendar year passes.

It's possible that, while facing a 10-game suspension for a violation of the policy, Bryant committed a separate violation.

Looking ahead, Bryant's absence would be a significant blow to what -- on paper (and for the most part, on the field last year) -- is set to be among the league's most prolific offenses.

While Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, Le'Veon Bell, Markus Wheaton and the newly-signed Ladarius Green will be high-end producers with or without Bryant, his absence will be an issue.

Last year's third-round receiver, Sammie Coates, would have a chance to step up. The team also re-signed Darrius Heyward-Bey last week. In addition, Florio reminded readers that Mike Wallace, who was quite successful as Pittsburgh's deep threat before laying eggs in both Miami and Minnesota, is currently a free agent.

Stay tuned. I'll obviously be keeping a close eye on the situation. But it sounds like making plans for Bryant's absence would be the wise approach until we hear otherwise.