Cowboys tight end Rico Gathers has been suspended for the first game of the 2019 season, per Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
The suspension was for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. As Ian Rapoport of NFL Network pointed out in a tweet, the suspension stems from his 2018 arrest for marijuana possession. Gathers is battling for a roster spot right now, and this certainly won’t help his cause. Machota writes that Gathers is “currently the No. 4 TE on Dallas’ depth chart,” so his spot on the 53 seems tenuous at best.
The Cowboys currently have Jason Witten, Blake Jarwin, and Dalton Schultz ahead of him in the pecking order. A sixth round pick in 2016, Gathers has received some offseason hype in the past, but hasn’t done much in the regular season. Gathers is heading into the final year of his rookie deal, and is scheduled to make a base salary of only $570K, which could end up saving him.
There was talk last offseason that Gathers could play a big role for the Cowboys in the wake of Witten’s retirement, but he ended up serving mostly as a blocker. He was listed as starting four games, but ended up catching only three passes for 45 yards. A Baylor product, Gathers missed the entire 2017 season due to injury. He might not be the only Cowboy suspended this summer, as the league is reportedly investigating Ezekiel Elliott‘s latest situation.
This suspension actually jumps him up the Cowboys’ depth chart, this is the type of player they love. Not quite domestic violence, but a suspension is a suspension.
Well there was hope for a breakthrough
But it better be one GREAT preseason to make it after this
Cowboys’ TE GATHERS suspension time !!
Try harder.
Stop with the easy layups…..
I was actually expecting him to say “Cowboys’ TE receives TOKEn suspension”….lol
When is the NFL going to stop this silly, stupid and racist war against Pot?
Another year another Cowboy suspended.