Former Pittsburgh Steelers WR Martavis Bryant, who was suspended indefinitely by the NFL in 2018 for multiple violations of the league’s substance abuse policy, has reportedly been reinstated by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and is drawing interest from teams, per a tweet from NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero.
Bryant was with the Steelers from 2014-2017, logging 126 receptions for 1,917 yards and 17 touchdowns in three seasons played with the team. He made an immediate impact during his rookie season, joining the team in Week 7 and finishing the year with 26 receptions for 549 yards and eight touchdowns. But he dealt with frequent suspensions, including a four-game one to begin his second season and a season-long one that wiped out him for the 2016 season, and he was traded to the Raiders ahead of the 2018 season for a third-round draft pick that eventually turned into a pick used to trade up for QB Mason Rudolph.
2018 was Bryant’s last season in the NFL, where he had 19 receptions for 266 yards in eight games. Another suspension knocked him out of the league, and after stints in the CFL, XFL, and even the Indoor Football League as a member of the Massachusetts Pirates, Bryant is reportedly looking to return to the NFL.
He didn’t look great in his most recent stint in the XFL, with just 14 receptions for 154 yards in eight games for the Rod Woodson-led Vegas Vipers.
But his 6-4 size coupled with his speed during his time in the NFL is surely intriguing. He was a deep-play threat for the Steelers, providing a nice complement to WR Antonio Brown before his substance abuse issues, primarily with marijuana, causing his career to hit a bump in the road. Now that the NFL just tests once a year for marijuana and their rules on the drug are significantly relaxed, it’s a shame that it’s what ended up hurting Bryant’s once-promising career.
While the recent results for Bryant aren’t super impressive, his track record in the NFL could make him a depth option. He is 31, which doesn’t help his comeback bid, but it would be nice to see Bryant get another shot in the league and see if he can make the most of it. We’ll see if he’ll be able to latch on with an NFL team for the second half of the season or at some point this offseason and potentially become a contributor in the NFL once again.
