Timing is everything, and for Eagles suspended cornerback Isaiah Rodgers, Thursday, April 18 was not the day.
The NFL reinstated wide receiver Quintez Cephus, safety C.J. Moore, defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor, linebacker Rashod Berry, and defensive end Shaka Toney off the reserve/suspended list.
All five were suspended for the entire 2023 season.
The NFL is reinstating five players who were suspended indefinitely last year for violating the gambling policy: former #Lions WR Quintez Cephus, S C.J. Moore and DL Demetrius Taylor, #Commanders WR Shaka Toney and former #Colts LB Rashod Berry. pic.twitter.com/HgEkt3dgNu
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 18, 2024
Toney will return to the Commanders roster.
The Lions released Cephus, Moore, and Taylor and are free to sign with new teams.
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Rodgers was the only name missing from the list, and that should be concerning for Philadelphia since the talented cornerback was suspended around the same time last off-season.
In February, he spoke to The Inquirer about his suspension, saying that “the more than 100 bets placed on his gambling account were on behalf of friends and family in his native Florida, a state where sports betting was not legal at the time.”
Rodgers stated that most of the bets were between $25 and $50 and included wagers related to Colts games, Rodgers confirmed, one was Jonathan Taylor’s over/under rushing yards prop.
The NFL’s revised rules on gambling state that there is now a minimum of a two-year suspension if a player bets on an NFL game involving his team, something Rodgers did.
The suspensions were part of a more harsh crackdown on gambling last offseason, with the league banning players from betting on any sport if the players are placing the bets at the team facility.