Patrick Peterson will be suspended 6 games by NFL, per reports

Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson will reportedly be suspended six games of the 2019 season, per Adam Schefter.

ESPN reporter Adam Schefter has breaking news that Arizona Cardinals cornerback Patrick Peterson will be suspended for a much of the season—six games—due to violation of the league’s performance-enhancing drug policy.

No further details were given immediately as to what Peterson had taken, but such an intense punishment is brow-raising for sure, especially given that Peterson is a singular talent, a man known as the best coverage corner in the National Football League. Peterson will not appeal the suspension, which reportedly dropped the punishment from eight to six games.

Peterson has made every single Pro Bowl in his eight year career and is likely a future Hall of Famer. A blemish such as this comes as a major shock as Peterson has also never missed a single game in his career, a string of 128 games all with the Cardinals organization.

Peterson has been the subject of trade rumors for the last year, since the NFL’s trade deadline in ’18 before which the cornerback was reportedly frustrated with the direction of the team and wanted out. Both sides made amends, or seemed to, but recent actions by Peterson on social media has demonstrated some bad blood apparently still exists and the trade rumors have continued.

The Kansas City Chiefs are the team most often linked to the Cardinals for Peterson. The need for a top-end corner is prevalent and they have the Super Bowl window open for them to make such an impact move. They’ve also not been shy about trading future draft assets to land impact players in the present, a la Frank Clark from the Seattle Seahawks.

Peterson will apparently return to the field in October in Week 7. It will be interesting to see how this affects any trade talks with the Chiefs and other teams or whether this means a price to acquire him is lower than originally expected.