Feb 9, 2022; Los Angeles, CA, USA; A Las Vegas Raiders helmet is seen at the Super Bowl LVI Experience at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Last month, former Minnesota Vikings pass rusher Janarius Robinson was popped by the NFL for using banned substances. Now, he’s back.
Regrettably for Robinson, his team isn’t in the postseason or anywhere near it, but the veteran defender will be eligible to play when the 2025 campaign rolls around.
KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweeted Tuesday, “The NFL lifts suspension for Janarius Robinson.”
Three weeks ago, ESPN’s Paul Gutierrez reported, “Janarius Robinson of the Las Vegas Raiders is suspended three games without pay for violating the NFL’s Substances of Abuse Policy, it was announced today.”
It was a DUI last February for Robinson, and his discipline is complete.
Without Robinson, the Raiders featured these defensive ends down the stretch of the season:
Robinson played 109 defensive snaps in 2024, used as a depth piece behind Crosby and Chaisson on pass-rushing downs. He also saw the field on 43 special teams plays.
The 25-year-old signed a two-year deal with the Raiders in the 2023 offseason, meaning this suspension could be his final hurrah in Las Vegas.
A 4th-Round pick by former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman in 2021, Robinson was a member of the Vikings practice squad after failing to make the 53-man roster at the end of August 2022. The Florida State alumnus missed all of the 2021 season on injured reserve. The 2022 campaign was supposed to be his de facto rookie season — if he could make the team. In his stead, fellow 2021 draft alumnus Patrick Jones and pass rusher D.J. Wonnum served as reservist EDGE rushers to Danielle Hunter and Za’Darius Smith on the Vikings depth chart. So, Robinson hit the practice squad.
The Philadelphia Eagles then pilfered Robinson after defensive end Derek Barnett tore his ACL and was sent to injured reserve in September 2022. Barnett was a trade component received “from the Vikings” roundaboutly from the Sam Bradford trade six years ago.
Robinson arrived to the Vikings as fruit from the Stefon Diggs trade to Buffalo. Diggs was packaged to the Buffalo Bills in 2020 — where he fit in tremendously— while the Vikings received the picks that netted Justin Jefferson (WR), Camryn Bynum (FS), Zach Davidson (TE), Kenny Willekes (EDGE), and Robinson.
Incidentally, a current Viking could soon face a Robinson-style suspension if found guilty. Last July, wide receiver Jordan Addison was arrested for a DUI in California, and there’s a decent chance he will miss three games in the 2025 regular season.
Robinson will turn 26 in May. He’s scheduled to hit free agency in two months.
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. The show features guests, analysis, and opinion on all things related to the purple team, with 4-7 episodes per week. His MIN obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band). He follows the NBA as closely as the NFL.
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.