The NFL Players Association’s 32 team representatives will vote on a revised drug policy Friday, according to two NFL sources close to negotiations.
One source said if the players approve the new policy Friday afternoon, Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker would be among several players who could be reinstated from their suspensions by Friday night. The Broncos have only 52 players on their 53-man roster, so Welker could be added immediately once they receive the OK from league headquarters.
Even if Welker’s four-game suspension is rescinded after he served just one game, it’s unclear whether the Broncos would activate him for their Week 2 game Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs. But all signs point to Welker being ready to play at a moment’s notice. He was cleared from his concussion injury last week by an independent doctor.
The new drug policy would include first-ever testing for human growth hormone. It also would raise the marijuana levels required for a positive test and shift positive amphetamine or stimulant tests in the offseason from the jurisdiction of the performance-enhancement policy, which penalizes first-time offenders with four-game suspensions, to the substance-abuse policy, where first-time violators are put in the program but not suspended until a second infraction.
Welker was handed a four-game suspension after the league found that he tested positive for an amphetamine. In a statement to The Denver Post, Welker vigorously disagreed with the league’s finding. His case seemed to serve as a bargaining chip for the league and players union to seriously engage in new drug policy negotiations.
