RAIDERS LOSE LINEMAN TO DRUG VIOLATION
CALIF.» Oakland ALAMEDA,
Raiders offensive lineman Vadal Alexander has been suspended without pay for the first four games next season for a violation of the league policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
The Raiders made the announcement Tuesday, attributing the information to the NFL. Alexander won’t be eligible to play until an Oct. 7 road game against the Chargers. He can return to practice Oct. 1, a day after the Raiders host Cleveland.
The 24-year-old offensive guard played in 15 games for Oakland last season with four starts and has appeared in 24 games overall with nine starts in two NFL seasons.
A seventh-round draft pick in 2016 out of LSU, Alexander can take part in offseason workouts with the team, preseason practices and preseason games.
Ex-Packer found dead.
ALA.» Authorities PINSON, say a former Green Bay Packers player has been found shot to death in his home in Alabama.
The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office says former Packers defensive lineman Carlos Gray was found shortly before 10 p.m. Monday near Birmingham, Ala.. The 25year-old is a native of Pinson.
Al.com reports that sheriff’s deputies and Center Point Fire and Rescue were dispatched to the house after a friend found Gray wounded and unresponsive.
Gray played at North Carolina State University and signed with the Packers as a free agent in 2014.
He was the father of two young children.
Eight get to carry overseas players.
NEW
Eight NFL teams will carry on their practice squads a player who came from an expanded program for overseas players.
The International Player Pathway was instituted last year. It aims to provide international athletes the opportunity to compete at the NFL level.
Alex Gray (Atlanta Falcons), Alex Jenkins (New Orleans Saints), Eric Nzeocha (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) and Efe Obada (Carolina Panthers) participated in 2017 and will return to those NFC South teams.
The NFL announced Tuesday that the AFC North was added this year. The Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers also will get an exemption for an 11th practice squad member who’s ineligible to be activated during the season. Two come from the United Kingdom and two from Germany.
Those players are Moritz Bohringer (Bengals), originally drafted in the 2016 sixth round by Minnesota; German Football League player Christopher Ezeala (Ravens); former British American Football League player Tigie Sankoh (Browns); and former English professional rugby player Christian Scotland-Williamson (Steelers).
Footnotes.
After completing the draft without a fullback on their roster, the Falcons have added two candidates who were undrafted college free agents. Luke McNitt of Nebraska and Daniel Marx of Stanford. Barring other roster moves, one of the two could open the season as the starter. … A person with direct knowledge of the decision told The Associated Press that Buffalo Bills and Sabres president Russ Brandon is leaving his post in a major shakeup made by the teams’ owners, Terry and Kim Pegula. … The first round of the draft was shown on Fox, the NFL Network and several ESPN networks simultaneously, combining to be viewed by 11.2 million people, making it the second-most watched television program for the week. … The Titans claimed outside linebacker Gimel President off waivers from the Texans.