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Titans Kenny Britt Suspension Ruling to Come Soon

By Josh Hill

The Tennessee Titans are expecting a ruling from the NFL on Kenny Britt within the week, but a final suspension won't likely start until after the regular season begins. (Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-US PRESSWIRE)
The Tennessee Titans are expecting a ruling from the NFL on Kenny Britt within the week, but a final suspension won't likely start until after the regular season begins. (Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-US PRESSWIRE) /
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The Tennessee Titans are expecting a ruling from the NFL on Kenny Britt within the week, but a final suspension won't likely start until after the regular season begins. (Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-US PRESSWIRE)
The Tennessee Titans are expecting a ruling from the NFL on Kenny Britt within the week, but a final suspension won't likely start until after the regular season begins. (Mandatory Credit: Don McPeak-US PRESSWIRE) /

The Tennessee Titans are in a difficult position as they near the start of the regular season. August 31 is the deadline to trim rosters down to the final 53-man team that will start the season. The big question in Tennessee right now is will wide receiver Kenny Britt be on that roster or will he be suspended by the NFL?

First off, there’s the question within the question about the suspension which is why is it even a question whether or not Britt will get a suspension. Confused yet?

Britt was arrested for eighth time in three years when he was busted for a DUI back in June. Britt’s constant run-ins with the law have triggered some animosity towards the league’s suspension policy seeing as Roger Goodell so easily suspends some players, but has let habitual rule breakers off the hook (See: Aqib Talib, Detroit Lions).

So the very fact that it’s still a question of whether he’ll be suspended by the league is laughable and embarrassing.

That being said, the NFL would lose all credibility if it failed to suspend Britt. But we don’t know when, how long or still even if he’ll be suspended which is why the Titans are in such a pickle. They currently list Britt on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list, and they — much like the NFL — don’t know what to do with the wide out.

Britt is on the PUP list due to a torn ACL he suffered last season.

One the one hand, Britt could be suspended under the league’s substance abuse policy — but this is just his first DUI arrest. The other option is to suspend him under the league’s player conduct policy since this is his eighth arrest.

Britt will have 3-5 days to appeal his suspension depending on what kind is handed down. If it’s a violation of the league’s player conduct policy, Britt will have three business days to appeal. If he’s under the league’s substance abuse policy, Britt has five business days to appeal his punishment. Either way, unless Britt gets his suspension letter this week, this mess won’t be resolved until after Week one.

“That will be something that about a week from now, we’ll know more,” coach Mike Munchak said Friday.

One rouge option in all of this is for Tennessee to simply cut Britt loose. If they had a viable No. 1 target to step up and fill the role, Tennessee likely would have cut Britt ling ago. But since he’s really the only true threat in the receiving corps at the moment, he’s not expendable. That could all change if the Titans start out strong this year and quarterback Jake Locker develops one of his current targets into a star.

But for now, the Titans will only enter the season with a true 52-man roster, because right now they have to save a slot for Kenny Britt. A lot can change between now and the time Britt either hears of his suspension or finishes it, but it’s truly a mess down in Tennessee, one the Titans which they could just rid themselves of soon.