A fifth Lions player from their 2022 roster is reportedly being investigated by the NFL for possibly violating the league’s gambling policy, according to The Athletic’s Kalyn Kahler.
Friday’s report comes after the league suspended four other Detroit players—wide receivers Quintez Cephus, Stanley Berryhill and Jameson Williamson and safety C.J. Moore—for violating the NFL’s gambling protocols in April.
Kahler reported that the most recent player suspended was not a “prominent member of the 2022 team.” However, The Athletic refrained from releasing the player’s name because the case remains under investigation.
The news also surfaces on the heels of ESPN reporting earlier this week that the NFL is looking into a “second wave of potential violations” of the league’s gambling guidelines. The league suspended Cephus and Moore indefinitely through at least the end of the ’23 season for betting on NFL games.
Shortly after the NFL’s announcement, the franchise released both Cephus and Moore. Meanwhile, both Berryhill and Williams were suspended for the first six regular-season games of the 2023 season for placing wagers on non-NFL games while at a NFL facility.
While Williams and Berryhill will not play in the first six weeks for Detroit, the two are still eligible to participate in the Lions offseason training activities as well as the franchise’s preseason activities that includes preseason games. On Thursday, Williams spoke to reporters for the first time on Thursday, saying that the suspension hit him “out the blue.”
Williams and Berryhill will be eligible to play in Week 7 when the Lions face the Ravens on Oct. 22.