CHICAGO – Bears defensive end Mario Edwards Jr. has been suspended without pay for the first two games of the 2021 regular season for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing substances, the league announced Friday.
Edwards Jr. he no longer has a contract with the Bears and will be a free agent in March. He will have to serve the suspension whenever he signs with a team, but will be eligible to participate in preseason games and workouts.
Edwards Jr. he had four high-career sacks while a member of the Bears in 2020.
The NFL is also investigating a legal issue related to Edwards Jr. which resulted from an incident last year at a hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Edwards Jr., 26, received a criminal subpoena for a felony charge against a woman, according to a spokesman for the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office in North Carolina in December.
A court date has not yet been set, but the subpoena arose due to a situation at the Hilton Charlotte City Center hotel on Oct. 17, the night before the Bears played the Carolina Panthers.
Police documents said officers responded to reports of a woman beating a man with her hand and scratching her forehead. Edwards and a woman had bruises and scratches and both were victims in the police report.
North Carolina court documents obtained by TMZ said the woman in question accused Edwards of hitting her in the eye and dragging her out of her hotel room after she began filming him during a discussion. The woman stated that she was pregnant at the time of the attack and that she needed hospitalization.
Peter Schaffer, Edwards’ agent, denied that his client was involved in any offense.