Cardinals and NFL release statement on Daryl Washington
By Mike Dyce
The NFL dropped the hammer on Arizona Cardinals linebacker Daryl Washington, suspending him for at least a year. The suspension is because of a violation of the league’s substance abuse policy.
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Washington was suspended for the same reason last year, and surprisingly it is completely unrelated to Washington’s recent plea bargain for an assault charge.
“It’s completely unacceptable that Daryl has once again put us in this position,” Cardinals general manager Steve Keim said, via the team’s website. “We all know what the consequences are and will deal with them. From a personal standpoint, our hope is that this suspension will give Daryl the opportunity to accept the necessary help and guidance to get his life back on track and we will certainly support him however we can.
“As it pertains to our team, our approach is the same as it’s always been: next man up. We talk a lot about how critical depth is to a team because situations always arise where you lose players, whether by injury or other circumstances such as this one. One player’s absence is another’s opportunity. That approach has served us well in the past and we will rely on it now.”
It creates a whole in the middle of the Cardinals defense and Washington leaves some big shoes to fill. Despite only playing in 12 games in 2013, because of that four-game suspension last season, he still compiled 81 tackles, three sacks and two interceptions. Now the Cardinals are left to try and figure out their Plan B for the defense.