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We've spent some time this offseason talking about Brody Eldridge, a marginally decent tight end who had no future on this Colts roster after the team drafted Coby Fleener and Dwayne Allen. There was some minor rumblings after Colts G.M. Ryan Grigson suggested Eldridge was not a "legit" tight end during his day two NFL draft presser, and then tried to clarify his remarks by saying Eldridge had a place on the team.
Two weeks later, Grigson cut Eldridge.
Yesterday, Howard Balzer of The Sports Xchange reported that the NFL has suspended Eldridge for the first four games of the regular season for violating the league's performance enhancing drug (PED) policy. Eldridge is currently a member of the St. Louis Rams, the team that scooped him up quickly off the waiver wire after Indy discarded him.
Basically, to use a crude term that might not be 100% accurate (in terms of the actual substance Eldridge was busted using), Eldridge was 'roiding.
Please note, I'm very absolutist when it comes to this sort of stuff. The NFL has a list of what you should and should not take. Unless players are completely dumb, violating the PED policy means the guilty party likely knew what they were taking, knew it was banned, and did it anyway.
Maybe Eldridge was doing this to speed up the healing process (the guy was seemingly always hurt). Maybe he was doing it to artificially enhance his strength. Don't know. Don't care. Cheating is cheating.
It's possible the Colts knew about this and, as a result, it was their excuse to cut Eldridge. Personally, I don't think that's the case. I think the reasoning for his termination in Indianapolis was that the front office didn't think he was any good. If they did, then they wouldn't have drafted two tight ends, back-to-back.
Also, Grigson has been talking up recent free agent addition Dominique Jones. Jones played last year in the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Colts also signed Andre Smith who, at 6'5 and 267 lbs, is basically just like Eldridge.
Hopefully, Eldridge can get his act together and get on with his football career. His QB in St. Louis is Sam Bradford, who was also his QB in college at Oklahoma. If he impresses in training camp, maybe the Rams will keep him regardless of the suspension. It's doubtful, but you never know.