Buffalo Bills' Nigel Bradham suspended for one game

As it turns out, Nigel Bradham will not be the Buffalo Bills' opening-day starter at weak-side linebacker.

No, he hasn't lost the competition for that job. He's just been suspended one game, without pay, by the NFL for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

You may recall that last August, Bradham was issued an appearance ticket for marijuana possession after a routine traffic stop following a Bills preseason win. That did not ultimately land him a suspension last season, even though the charge was eventually dismissed, but it is the reason that he is being suspended now. Bradham has already appealed the decision and lost.

.@NigelBradham_13's 1-game suspension is related to incident last year that was dismissed. "It's kind of shocking" pic.twitter.com/elw4yysBgO

— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) July 30, 2014

.@NigelBradham_13: "My whole thing is to stay positive." Apologized to teammates that an issue from last year has followed him into 2014.

— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) July 30, 2014

.@NigelBradham_13: "I'm not proud of it. I want to be out there with my teammates Week 1."

— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) July 30, 2014

Marrone on Nigel Bradham's maturity: "He's learned to make better decisions"

— Buffalo Bills (@buffalobills) July 30, 2014

The Ray Rice suspension will always and forever take the cake for dumbest suspension, but this one for Bradham is pretty bad. The charge was dropped on September 11, 2013. He has appeared in 15 regular season games since, and only now is the suspension coming through. Good luck trying to explain that one to, well, anyone that doesn't work for the NFL.

Bradham is currently considered the front-runner to replace injured starter Kiko Alonso in the Bills' starting lineup. Preston Brown, a rookie out of Louisville, is another young player the team is high on, and veteran Stevenson Sylvester and undrafted rookie Jimmy Gaines have taken first-team reps at the position thus far, as well.