JUNE 27: During a Friday press conference, Michael Belsky – one of the attorneys representing 13 of the 16 accusers – said he is “still determining the next steps” for his clients (h/t ESPN’s Jamison Hensley). While Tucker’s situation with respect to his NFL outlook has thus been clarified, legal action stemming from his alleged misconduct could still be coming.
JUNE 26: Justin Tucker has already seen his Ravens tenure come to an end, and he will be unavailable to his next team for much of the season in 2025 if he is to line up a deal. The All-Pro kicker was issued a 10-game suspension on Thursday.
Mark Make of the Washington Post notes today’s news is not the result of an arbitrator’s ruling. This case never proceeded to a hearing in front of Sue Robinson (which did happen with Deshaun Watson, for instance). Instead, the length of this ban was agreed upon between the parties involved.
The suspension will take effect on August 26, since that represents the roster cutdown deadline around the league. Tucker will first be eligible for reinstatement on November 11. A free agent at the moment, he is still allowed to sign with an interested team at any point (although today’s news certainly hinders the chances of that taking place).
In February, allegations of sexual misconduct during massage therapy sessions went public against Tucker. The 35-year-old has denied the claims on more than one occasion, but a league investigation was launched into the matter. Today’s findings conclude a violation of the league’s personal conduct policy took place, leading to the suspension.
Prior to the draft – with the NFL probe ongoing – the Ravens faced the possibility of moving on from Tucker. The team intended to wait until the investigation concluded to make a decision on that front, but once Tyler Loop was selected in the sixth round it appeared to be a guarantee a Tucker release would indeed take place. Early last month, Baltimore moved forward with a post-June 1 cut.
At the time of Tucker’s release, the Ravens insisted the move was strictly football related. The seven-time Pro Bowler posted an field goal rate no lower than 82.5% during his first 12 years in the league (all spent with Baltimore). Tucker experienced a notable downturn in accuracy midway through this past season, though, and his overall success rate on field goals dropped to 73.3%. Cutting ties with three years remaining on his contract was a move no doubt partially informed by the dip in performance, but Baltimore’s decision also implied news such as this could be coming.
Now that Tucker is set to miss much of the coming campaign, his chances of landing a new opportunity in the NFL have taken a hit. A free agent pact prior to the NFL’s investigation concluding was always unlikely, and today’s ban -which will not be appealed – could very well lead to a full season spent on the sidelines.
“We are disappointed with the NFL’s decision,” a statement from Tucker’s agent reads in part (via Mike Garafolo of NFL Network). “Justin has always strived to carry himself in a way that would make his family and community proud. He stands by his previous statements. In order to put this difficult episode behind him and get back on the field as soon as possible, we have advised Justin to accept this resolution and close this matter.”
A Super Bowl champion in 2012, Tucker owns a number of all-time records and has amassed over $51MM in career earnings. That figure could continue to climb at some point, but especially in the wake of today’s suspension his NFL future is unclear.
You’re kidding?
Why? Watson got 11 games. Watson was accused by 26 and Tucker was only accused by 16.
Would have thought the NFL learned something from that. And it’s 16 WE KNOW OF.
You can’t dole out extra punishment for a player for things you don’t know of.
True, but this suspension really doesn’t matter, his career is over anyways.
Can’t tell if this is a joke or not. Key word: ACCUSED. Count ‘em up
He was looking to up his street cred. Suspended for touching chicks puts him right up there with some class acts.
Cmon agent, keep telling me how great of a human he is. Remind me what I see is not true, rather what you say is gospel. If I’m innocent, I’m riding to the grave with it. But yea….”close the matter” 🙄
I don’t think opera singers need street cred, unless he’s planning on inventing opera rap.
Suspension definitely deserved, Yet Rashee Rice came recklessly close to ending someone elses life and committed about 7 or 8 felonies, and the league was still gonna let him play before he got injured
These penalties come pretty quickly for free agents, huh…
Good, should’ve matched Watsons, but this is fine.
Watson had more accusers and his reported actions were worse than Tucker’s.
Why does the number of accusers matter? Is there some kind of games suspended per accuser guideline in the CBA?
Is there a scale you can share? Number of accusers..games. type of actions? Come on even 1 is bad!
Have they suspended Rasheed Rice yet?
Of course, he’ll beg God for repenting his sins.
Sins. Hell yea
There is no god.
Is that a statement of hope or faith?
He’d have to actually admit he committed the sins in order to repent. He’s doing the Bill Clinton shuffle.
And the Trump big lie too. Just wanted to be fair
Congratulations, arty. Only you could start a political and religious debate with a completely unrelated comment.
Thanks. He can beg forgiveness, and get away with it, but does nothing to soothe the women he attacked. Religion is a JOKE.
I think you’ve proven that you are the joke here. Unfortunately, it’s not even a funny joke.
Well, he had a great career. He’s finished now though. A potential star qb gets more leeway than a kicker.
If a playoff hopeful team loses their kicker late in the season, he’ll get signed.
and he still won’t play. He has to be signed for the suspension to start.
The suspension begins August 26th. He can sign with team and play after the first ten games.
I hope he doesn’t get a chance.
Actually he doesn’t need to be signed according to the verbiage. His suspension begins on August 26th and ends on November 11th
probably the most useless suspension. It has to be given but he isn’t going to play again anyways. He has hit his wall and is done.
Time to explore the flag football options…lol.
No necessarily. There are plenty of examples of kickers rebounding from a rough year. Mason Crosby, for example, came back better after bad seasons on multiple occasions.
Mason Crosby wasn’t in his mid 30’s either. Tucker already started showing signs a few years ago.
Odds are he’s done in the nfl anyway
Kickers are easily replaced so his best strategy would be to try the George Blanda approach and become a QB. He might even be good enough to find a place on the Browns depth chart…lol.
Not a happy ending.
51 mil career earnings. That’s a lot of massages. Hope the suspension didn’t rub him the wrong way.
I don’t think this is going to have a happy ending!
Lord of the Baby Oil: Rise of the Creeps
More time for massage.