Wide receiver Josh Gordon and defensive lineman David Irving have been waiting months for decisions from the NFL on their reinstatement from indefinite suspensions -- decisions that now are overdue, based on the league's collective bargaining agreement.
Gordon applied for reinstatement in June and Irving applied in July, and the NFL is supposed to make a decision on the application within 60 days. Gordon has an agreement in place with the Seattle Seahawks but cannot sign it until he is reinstated.
Irving, who has 12 sacks in 25 career games, has drawn interest from at least six teams and wants to return to football. His agent Steve Weinberg believes Irving is overdue an answer from the NFL on his client's application for reinstatement.
Weinberg told ESPN that Irving applied for reinstatement in mid-July, and the NFL is supposed to make a decision on the application within 60 days, which would have been a few weeks ago. With a verdict overdue, Weinberg wants Irving to be reinstated immediately so that he can sign with a team.
"David has done everything asked of him," Weinberg said. "He's been drug tested, he's met with doctors and I don't get it. Why have 60 days in the program if they're not going to abide by it."
Irving, 27, announced he was quitting football in March 2019, shortly after the league suspended him indefinitely for violating its substance-abuse policy for a third time in as many years. He announced his decision in an Instagram video where he appeared to be smoking marijuana, saying he was walking away from the game in a form of protest for not being allowed to smoke marijuana.
But with players no longer being tested for marijuana use in the new CBA, Irving wants to return to the NFL and is now awaiting the league's approval.
"We're baffled why we don't have a decision," Weinberg said. "We're at a loss as to why this hasn't been ruled on yet."
Gordon, 29, was suspended indefinitely in December for violations of the league's policies on performance-enhancing substances and substances of abuse. It was Gordon's sixth suspension since the 2013 season and his fifth for some form of substance abuse, according to ESPN Stats & Information.