Detroit Lions Sign Troubled DE/LB Armonty Bryant, Put Wallace Gilberry On IR
The Detroit Lions continued their busy Tuesday by claiming defensive end Armonty Bryant, who is coming off a drug-related suspension, off of waivers.
The Detroit Lions made a second addition to their roster on Tuesday, claiming former Cleveland Browns defensive end/outside linebacker Armonty Bryant, who is coming off a drug-related suspension, off of waivers after signing tight end Clay Harbor earlier the same day. To make room for Bryant on the roster, the team also placed defensive end Wallace Gilberry (abdomen) on injured reserve.
In July, Bryant pled guilty to one count of felony drug possession stemming from a traffic stop on Christmas Day. Bryant and then-teammate De’Ante Saunders were arrested after officers found, according to varying reports, two Oxycodone pills and one Adderall pill, a concealed handgun with no permit, a 22-round magazine and a firearm in the vehicle after they were pulled over for speeding. Bryant was given a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail and fined $1,000.
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Bryant was suspended in March for the first four games of the season for violating the league’s performance-enhancing drugs policy, a suspension which ended on Monday along with his 68 days of probation.
After the suspension ended, the Browns opted to release Bryant, who is still potentially subject to discipline from the NFL regarding the drug possession conviction, which league spokesman Brian McCarthy told cleveland.com is still under review.
While Bryant’s release comes shortly after Cleveland Browns head coach Hue Jackson said he wouldn’t “put up with foolishness with any of our players,” Bryant’s signing by the Lions is the second involving a player with significant character concerns by general manager Bob Quinn since he said in January that character would be a “big point of emphasis” and that the team would have no tolerance for players with a history of domestic violence and dangerous weapons. The Lions signed former Green Bay Packers tight end Andrew Quarless despite his July 2015 arrest and two-week suspension for firing a weapon in public, a charge to which Quarless pled no contest. The Lions released Quarless after his suspension ended before he could be added to the 53-man roster two weeks ago.
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Bryant’s Christmas Day arrest was not his first time finding trouble. Within a week of being drafted by the Browns in the seventh round of the 2013 NFL Draft, he was arrested for drunk driving and given a one-year deferred sentence after he pled no contest. During his time at East Central University in Oklahoma, where he played Division II football, he sold marijuana to an undercover officer twice. He pled no contest to a felony marijuana distribution charge and was placed on five years of probation, which will end in 2017.
Primarily used as an edge rusher, Bryant had 62 total tackles and 8.5 sacks in 31 games—including four starts—with the Browns, as well as two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. He had 5.5 sacks in 14 games in 2015 after missing most of the 2014 season with a torn right ACL and MCL. While average in size, his speed is below average, as are most of his athletic variables.
The #Lions are already scraping the bottom of the barrel in week 4, Bryant's #RAS athletic profile matches his tape. pic.twitter.com/gugtSEx9Uk
— Kent Lee Platte (@MathBomb) October 4, 2016
To make room for Bryant on the 53-man roster, the Lions placed defensive end Wallace Gilberry on injured reserve. Gilberry had been listed on the injury report for the last two weeks with an abdomen injury but had been a full participant in Friday practice ahead of the Lions’ week four loss to the Chicago Bears.
Next: Detroit Lions Sign TE Clay Harbor, Release Orson Charles
The Lions will take on the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles at home on Sunday at 1:00 on FOX.