Guion lands 4-game ban
NT suspended for violating PED policy
GREEN BAY - Green Bay Packers nose tackle Letroy Guion has been suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2017 season after violating the NFL policy on performance-enhancing substances.
The Packers announced the suspension in a news release Tuesday afternoon.
For Guion, 29, this is his second suspension in three years with the Packers, who signed him as a street free agent in 2014.
The trouble began on Feb. 3, 2015, when Guion was pulled over in his truck for swerving across the center line. The odor of marijuana prompted a search of the vehicle, and officers found a gun, three-quarters of a pound of pot and $190,000 in cash.
Guion was arrested and charged with two felonies for marijuana possession and a gun charge. He later pleaded no contest to possession of marijuana and paid a $5,000 fine. The charge of having a gun while committing a felony was dropped, and Guion avoided a
conviction on his record due to the terms of a plea deal.
However, the fallout from those events led to a three-game suspension at the start of the 2015 season for violating the league’s substanceabuse policy.
Guion has started 35 games in three years with the Packers, but his performance eroded as the 2016 season progressed. Rookie firstround pick Kenny Clark usurped his playing time until, in Game 19, Clark earned more snaps than Guion for the first time all season.
The Packers would save $3.3 million against the cap if they release Guion, who has a $400,000 roster bonus due Saturday. If the Packers do not pay it, Guion will become a free agent.
If Guion remains on the team, this will be the third consecutive season in which the Packers have at least one defensive lineman suspended for the start of the regular season. Guion and defensive end/outside linebacker Datone Jones (one game) were suspended in 2015; nose tackle Mike Pennel (four games) was suspended in 2016.
The problems for Guion started long before his drug-related arrest two years ago. On
Oct. 24, 2015, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an investigation detailing years of legal issues for Guion dating to his time with the Minnesota Vikings, who drafted him in the fifth round in 2008.
The Packers signed Guion as a street free agent after the Vikings released him in March 2014. They since have resigned him to two more contracts, including a three-year deal worth up to $11 million inked in February 2016. The contract was heavy on incentives and contained only $500,000 in guaranteed money.