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The NFL is planning to suspend Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Jameis Winston the first three games of the season for violating the league's personal conduct policy, league sources tell ESPN's Adam Schefter.

The planned suspension stems from an alleged incident with an Uber driver in March 2016.

The league still has not notified Winston of its official decision, and Schefter notes the circumstances surrounding it still could lead to an increase or decrease of the three games, per sources. But as it stands now, the league is preparing to suspend Winston for three games.

One source told Schefter that Winston could be notified as early as Friday, but others think it is will be handed down sometime in the next week. An appeal could be discussed, but they have proven to be largely fruitless in the past, most recently with Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, who was suspended six games last August.

The alleged incident occurred in March 2016 but did not surface until BuzzFeed reported the accusation in November 2017. The NFL initiated its investigation and the Buccaneers have been waiting to hear from the league.

According to Profootballtalk.com's Michael David Smith, it's unclear is whether Winston is being suspended because the NFL's investigation verified the female Uber driver's claim that Winston groped her, or because Winston failed to disclose the accusation. Smith went on to explain that NFL rules require all players to voluntarily come forward if they are accused of any violations of the league's personal-conduct policy.

Winston may profess that he didn't grope the Uber driver, but he was aware of her accusation and he didn't disclose it.

According to Rick Stroud of the Tampa Bay Times, Winston is not expected to appeal.

This makes financial sense for the QB. Winston would lose $124,000 in base salary for a three-game suspension because his base salary is only $705,000 this season. As Schefter and Smith both pointed out, Winston's base salary for next season is scheduled to be over $20.9 million, reducing the chance he would consider appealing this three-game suspension.

If Winston sits three games, or any amount of time, the Buccaneers would be forced to start quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who posted a 2-1 record last season when he was asked to start due to Winston's shoulder injury.

Behind Fitzpatrick is Ryan Griffin, who now figures to be Tampa Bay's backup quarterback for the first part of this season.

The positive here is Fitzpatrick, who tossed seven TDs in six appearances with the Buccaneers last season, is an experienced, capable veteran who should be able to fuel the fantasy fortunes of the players we're most interested in, like Mike Evans, Cameron Brate, O.J. Howard, DeSean Jackson and Chris Godwin.