NFL Drops the Hammer on Jordan Addison
Jordan Addison’s legal saga now has clarity, and the Minnesota Vikings can tangibly prepare for the fallout.
The NFL has just come down as expected on Vikings wide receiver Jordan Addison. Here’s what it means for the team, the season, and Addison personally in 2025.
California Highway Patrol arrested Addison for a DUI 13 months ago, an offence he later pleaded down to a “wet reckless” charge.
Most pundits and fans forecasted a three-game suspension for the third-year wideout, and that exactly came to fruition on Wednesday.
Addison Hits the Shelf to Start the Season
The Vikings will be a Jordan Addison-less enterprise for three weeks.
NFL Suspends Jordan Addison for 3 Games
ESPN’s Adam Schefter solved the mystery with this tweet, ‘Discipline: NFL suspended Vikings WR Jordan Addison for the first three games of the 2025 regular season for violating the league’s Substances of Abuse Policy. Addison now will miss games at Chicago, vs. the Falcons and vs. the Bengals.”
Two minutes later, the Vikings tweeted, “The NFL has announced WR Jordan Addison has been suspended without pay for the first three games of the 2025 regular season for violating the NFL’s Substances of Abuse Policy. Addison is permitted to participate in all training camp activities, including preseason games without restriction.”
It doesn’t get much more concrete than that.
Return = Dublin, Ireland vs. Steelers
Addison will return to the starting lineup in Week 4, a tryst across the pond in Dublin against Aaron Rodgers‘ Pittsburgh Steelers. The electric playmaker will miss games against the Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons, and Cincinnati Bengals. In the way of a suspension, a bullet was not dodged.
In 2024, with Sam Darnold at quarterback, the Vikings successfully navigated tight end T.J. Hockenson’s absence (an injury) — to the tune of a spiffy 5-0 start.
Nobody anywhere expected an unblemished start of the season, so fans will hold out hope that J.J. McCarthy, the team’s 22-year-old passer with no starting experience, can help replicate a hot start. Stay tuned.
What Next for the Offense in the Meantime?
Here’s the main question: Now what for McCarthy’s offense? Addison is now guaranteed to be a nonfactor in the season’s first three games, and he’s not the type of player who can seamlessly be replaced.
Expect a healthy dose of the aforementioned Hockenson, who commands a WR3 workload when fully healthy. At wide receiver, fourth-year speed demon Jalen Nailor instantly received a temporary promotion Tuesday, earning the WR2 title for the first three games.
After Hockenson and Nailor, Minnesota will ponder enhanced roles for players like Tai Felton (a rookie), Rondale Moore, Lucky Jackson, and Silas Bolden. One member of the Moore-Jackson-Bolden trio is likely to miss the active roster, but expect more responsibility to be shifted to one or two of them.
It’s worth noting that Jackson, a former UFL standout, has conducted a marvelous training camp.
An Incident-Free July. Finally.
Not for nothing — Addison produced a spotless July for the first time in his NFL career. In July 2023, as a rookie, the USC alumnus was cited for reckless driving, having traveled 140 MPH in a 65 MPH zone. No suspension arose from that infraction.
Then, last summer, Addison was found asleep at the wheel on a Los Angeles freeway, resulting in the DUI charge that later became “wet reckless.” This go-round, we’re on to August, and Addison did not fire up the nefarious three-peat.
Other Addison Perspectives
SI.com’s Peter Dewey wrote about the Addison situation this week, “It’s quite possible with the team changing quarterbacks from Sam Darnold to 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy, but more than that is at play. Losing Addison would be a major blow to the Vikings’ offense early in the season, and it would give McCarthy one less weapon on the field to help his transition to the NFL.”
“McCarthy did not play in the 2024 season after suffering a torn meniscus in the preseason. So, how could Addison’s potential suspension impact the Vikings’ in the win total market? After winning 14 games in the 2024 season and nearly taking the NFC North division title, the Vikings are projected to be right around .500 in the 2025 campaign.”
For many onlookers, the anticipation of Addison’s legal drama being over is a sigh of relief.
Dewey continued, “At DraftKings Sportsbook, they are -155 to record over 8.5 wins, but they are +105 to record more than 9.5 wins. So, it seems oddsmakers are pegging them to finish with a 9-8 record in the 2025 campaign. That would be a five-win drop from their 14-3 mark in 2024. Addison appeared in 15 games in the 2024 season, and the Vikings went 12-3 in those matchups.”
“While they’d still have Justin Jefferson to lean on in the passing game, Addison also helps open things up for Jefferson in the offense.”
Addison is still just 23 years old.
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