CHICAGO – Mario Edwards Jr., defensive end for Bears, has been paid without pay for the first two games of the normal season in 2021 for violating NFL policy on performance-enhancing drugs, the league announced Friday.
Edwards Jr. is no longer under contract with the Bears and will be a free agent in March. He will have to serve the suspension when he signs with a team, but can take part in the pre-season matches.
Edwards Jr. had a four-pocket career high while being a member of the Bears in 2020.
The NFL is also investigating a legal issue regarding Edwards Jr. resulting from an incident last year in a hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina.
According to a spokesman for the law firm in Mecklenburg County in December, Edwards Jr. (26) a criminal summons issued on a charge of assault on a woman.
A court date has not yet been set, but the subpoena arose from a situation at the Hilton Charlotte City Center Hotel on Oct. 17, the night before the Bears played the Carolina Panthers.
According to police documents, officers responded to reports of a woman hitting a man with her hand and scratching on his forehead. Edwards and a woman both had bruises and scratches, and both were listed as victims in the police report.
According to North Carolina court documents obtained by TMZ, the woman in question accused Edwards of slapping her in the eye and dragging her out of his hotel room after she started recording him during an argument. The woman stated that she was pregnant during the attack and needed hospitalization.
Peter Schaffer, an agent of Edwards, denied that his client was involved in any offense.