The New York Jets possess arguably the most loaded defensive front in the National Football League. Their starting ends in 2014 (Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson) ranked second and third respectively among 3-4 ends at Pro Football Focus. The team added the best defensive line prospect in the 2015 NFL draft with its selection of USC's Leonard Williams at No. 6 overall.
However, for a line so loaded the Jets face a pile of future uncertainty at the position—a pile that just got quite a bit bigger on Thursday.
As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported, Richardson was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 NFL season for a violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy:
Jets DL Sheldon Richardson suspended first four games for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse, per NFL.