Buffalo Bills linebacker Andre Smith suspended for PED violation

Buffalo Bills linebacker Andre Smith has been suspended for violating the NFL’s PED policy, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Smith will miss the first six games of the season as a result of the suspension. The former North Carolina linebacker started his career with the Carolina Panthers in 2018 before joining the Bills prior to the 2020 campaign.

In three years at UNC from 2015 to 2017, Smith totaled 187 tackles — including 8.5 tackles for loss — two sacks and two interceptions. The Panthers drafted him in the seventh round of the 2018 NFL Draft and headed to Buffalo via a trade ahead of the 2020 season. Buffalo assigned him to the practice squad, but later elevated him to the active roster in October of that year. He signed a two-year extension with the Bills after the year.

As a high school recruit from the class of 2015, Smith was a three-star recruit and the No. 50 linebacker in the class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Buffalo is coming off an appearance in the AFC Divisional Round, which became an all-time game agains the Kansas City Chiefs. The two teams traded punches late in the game and eventually headed to overtime, where Kansas City won on the first play to advance to the AFC Championship. Still, quarterbacks Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes put on a show on the big stage.

The Bills also saw a big loss on their offense after the year when offensive coordinator Brian Daboll left to become the New York Giants’ new head coach, replacing Joe Judge. Buffalo then moved to promote passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach Ken Dorsey to replace Daboll and work closely with Allen to improve the offense.