It may have just gotten more difficult for free agent running back Ahmad Bradshaw to find a new team to play for this season. The Associated Press reported on Monday that Bradshaw has plead no contest to a marijuana charge that resulted from a February traffic stop in Ohio. Bradshaw is also forced to pay $351 in fines and court costs and will have his Ohio driver’s license suspended for six months.
Though a minor infraction, the fact that the case is now adjudicated will open up Bradshaw to discipline from the NFL should he land with a new team, as well as subject him to routine, rigorous drug testing as part of league’s substance abuse policy. Bradshaw, who turned 29 years old in March, spent the last two seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and the six before that with the New York Giants, earning two Super Bowl championships.
Bradshaw was an integral part of the Colts’ offense in his two years there, rushing 131 times for 6,114 yards and catching 54 passes on 45 targets for 342 yards and six additional touchdowns. All six of those receiving touchdowns and 300 of his receiving yards came in 2014, when Bradshaw was on pace to break the single-season receiving touchdown record for a running back before suffering a season-ending leg fracture in Week 10.
While Bradshaw is inching towards 30 years old, his considerable receiving ability and his career average of 4.6 yards per carry should lead him to join another team this summer. But with his marijuana charges dealt with, any team that does sign him needs to be comfortable with the fact that they could be without his services to start the 2015 season.
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