Coming out of free agency will be a bit more difficult now for former Jaguars offensive tackle Will Richardson. For an as of yet undisclosed reason, the NFL has issued Richardson a three-game suspension, forbidding him to participate in the first three weeks of 2023, according to Field Yates of ESPN. 
Richardson was a fourth-round draft pick for Jacksonville back in 2018 after a rocky career at NC State. As a redshirt freshman with the Wolfpack, Richardson was suspended for a violation of team rules that was later determined to be a DWI. He was not enrolled at NC State the following spring but ended up back on the team for the 2016 and 2017 seasons. He then received a two-game suspension to start his redshirt junior year because of a marijuana-related incident.
The off-the-field incidents tanked the NC State star tackle’s draft stock. Despite being the team’s best offensive lineman and finishing the year on the All-ACC second team, Richardson slid back to Day 3 of the draft before the Jaguars finally took a chance on him. It was the second year in a row that the team had risked a fourth-round pick on a player with prior off-the-field issues after drafting Dede Westbrook the previous year.
Ultimately, Richardson kept his nose clean during his time with the Jaguars. After not appearing in any games during his rookie season due to injury, Richardson played in 44 of a possible 49 games for the rest of his rookie deal. He made five spot starts over that time, as well, filling in for Ben Bartch to start the 2021 season after the starter entered the year on COVID-19 protocols.
When his four-year rookie deal expired, Jacksonville re-signed Richardson to a new one-year, $2MM contract. Despite the new deal, he failed to make a regular season appearance last season after he was released from the team the day after making the initial 53-man roster to make room for two waiver claims.
It’s unclear if this new suspension has anything to do with substance abuse like his college incidents. Perhaps if he can land with a new team in 2023, despite the suspension, he can avoid any further off-the-field trouble. A three-game suspension following a year away from the league, though, will make returning to the NFL an uphill battle.