ORCHARD PARK, NY – Buffalo Bills general manager Brandon Bean announced Friday that the team will have a free agent addition (defensive tackle Rally Ogunjovi and defensive end Michael Hecht) violated the NFL policy against performance-enhancing drugs in the first six games of the season.
“It’s not ideal to have two guys, but neither guy has had any problems off the field,” Bean said. “It’s a difficult lesson about your supplements and what happened and where you can get it.”
Both players will remain on the team through offseason programs and training camp, returning to the team facility four weeks later and playing six times. Beane said the bill deals with suspension, as he already knows that several players will be injured during training camp, and must start the season in the injured reserve. He also said, “If they had been the one that had happened before, they would probably have avoided them.”
Objunobi, cut by the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday for a pay cap space, learned that he had a positive test near the time he had been finalising his one-year contract with the bill, and that the team hadn’t noticed before he did.
“I understand the league. We have an obligation to understand what we put in our bodies and we take full responsibility for that,” Ogunjovi said Friday. “…I’m totally accountable. It was a mistake. It was an accident. And I accepted my punishment. Sometimes you don’t know what it is. And this is one such case. But I was the best thing to do.
Beane said the bill would not sign two players facing a six-game suspension if they knew about Obunjobi’s positive test before agreeing to the terms. He pointed out that many defensive tackles signed elsewhere after they learned.
The general manager said Ogunjobi came to his office on Thursday to discuss the matter. The news delayed his signature from Thursday to Friday. Beane said the development has caused new contractual elements that the team needs to work on before signing him.
“I’ll give [Ogunjobi] The credit is because it’s early in the process,” Bean said. “I don’t even know the league [the positive test]the way it is done by independent groups. But he was very straightforward. Larry, he was from Pittsburgh. [Walter Payton] A man. He’s a good guy. He’s been playing in the league for 8 years and didn’t have a blip so it’s obviously frustrating for him and a bit frustrating for us, but we talked about it, we’re in a good place, but that’s part of the delay [in his signing]. ”
When the general manager called the league about Obunjobi’s positive test, he said the NFL wasn’t aware of it. The second sample result is back from the results from the first sample and will not be notified to the NFL until both are tested.
The team knew Hoecht’s suspension before agreeing to a contract with him. After agreeing to a three-year deal, Hoecht found out he tested a positive test for “some form of testosterone in my system” for three weeks in the offseason. He gave the team of interest with free agency advance notice of violations.
After spending the past four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, Hecht said he has built relationships and trust with trainers for several years, and has stopped being vigilant about substance checks. He told other NFL players and young athletes he wanted to learn from him.
“That was a mistake,” Hecht said. “It was careless. It was entirely my fault. And it’s something I have to own and I’m going to show up on the better side and use it as a motive and fuel.”
