How Le'Veon Bell's suspension impacts Packers' Letroy Guion

On Thursday morning, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that the NFL has decided the punishment of Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell for an incident in 2014. Bell was arrested for DUI back in August and charged with both DUI and possession of marijuana.

As a first-time offender, Bell is participating in an "Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition" program, which is a fancy term for probation. If he satisfies the terms of the program, his charges will be dropped.

However, the discipline from the NFL has come down, as Schefter reports:

Pitt RB LeVeon Bell suspended 3 games, fined additional game check for violating substance abuse policy, per league sources. He is appealing

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) April 9, 2015

How does this affect the Packers, who do not play Pittsburgh this year? It sheds a little light on the likely upper bound any suspension the league may choose to enforce on defensive tackle Letroy Guion, who was stopped in Starke, Florida earlier this offseason, also on marijuana charges. Guion was stopped with about 3/4 of a pound of marijuana in his car, as well as an unloaded handgun and nearly $200,000 in cash.

Guion's charges were dropped as part of a first-time offender plea deal, and he does not face probation or any mention on his criminal record. It seems unlikely that the NFL would punish Guion any more than they are punishing Bell, primarily because Guion was not found to be driving under the influence. As part of the league's new substance abuse policy, a DUI charge should result in a two-game suspension for even a first-time offender, and Guion avoided that in this case. However, the quantity of marijuana in the two cars may make a difference - Bell had 3/4 of an ounce rather than the 3/4-pound that Guion had in his possession, which may make the marijuana-related suspensions different.

LeGarrette Blount, who was in the car with Bell during the stop and was also charged with marijuana possession (and had his charges dropped due to a community service commitment), was given a one-game suspension by the league on Wednesday.

Ultimately, because of the circumstances surrounding the players' charges and because both Bell and Guion are first-time offenders under both the law and the NFL's substance abuse program, we believe that the Packers should expect at worst a two-game suspension for Guion to start the 2015 season. Based on Blount's suspension, though, Guion will almost certainly get at least one game as a result of his stop.

Ultimately, my prediction is that he gets two games - one for the possession charge and a second added on due to the larger quantity of pot and the handgun that was also in his car at the time of the stop.That would leave the Packers shorthanded for only a brief time at the start of the season, and would likely allow Guion to be a full participant throughout the preseason.

Stay tuned, as we will be sure to bring you news of Guion's punishment as soon as it is announced.