Cardinals linebacker Markus Bailey is challenging his six-game suspension imposed by the NFL, with both him and his legal team criticizing the league’s performance-enhancing substances policy as “unforgivingly strict.”
Bailey was found in violation of the NFL’s performance-enhancing substances policy, and as a result, he will be sidelined until at least January 5.
While the linebacker accepted the suspension, he firmly denied knowingly taking any banned substances.
“I would never have intentionally taken a banned substance,” Bailey posted on X. “This was clearly a contamination issue with only 0.05 nanograms found, but due to the NFL’s strict liability policy, it was best for the team and myself to accept the suspension now.”
Bailey’s attorney, Rick Collins, echoed similar sentiments in a statement released earlier in the evening, describing the NFL’s policy in harsh terms.
“The NFL has an unforgiving strict liability policy,” Collins stated. “Each athlete is responsible for whatever banned substance is detected, no matter how it got there.
Unlike some other sports, the NFL offers no reduced sanction for food or supplement contamination, which is a common concern.
There is no threshold for most banned substances below which results are partially or fully excused in cases of inadvertent ingestion. We are investigating the source of the trace contaminant. Meanwhile, Markus has opted to accept the suspension.”
Bailey appeared in just one game for the Cardinals this season, which was on October 21, when Arizona defeated the Chargers 17-15. He participated in 73 percent of the special teams snaps during that game.
Before joining the Cardinals, Bailey played for the Cincinnati Bengals for four seasons, where he recorded 73 tackles in 60 games. He was part of the Bengals’ roster that reached the Super Bowl in 2021.
Bailey was drafted by the Bengals in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft out of Purdue.
