Sheldon Richardson Suspension Further Muddies Situation on Loaded Jets DL

The New York Jets possess arguably the most loaded defensive front in the National Football League. Their starting ends in 2014 (Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson) ranked second and third, respectively, among 3-4 ends at Pro Football Focus. The team added the best defensive line prospect in the 2015 NFL draft with its selection of USC's Leonard Williams at No. 6 overall.

However, for a line so loaded the Jets face a pile of future uncertainty at the position—a pile that just got quite a bit bigger on Thursday.

As ESPN's Adam Schefter reported, Richardson was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 NFL season for a violation of the NFL's substance-abuse policy:

According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, it was the sticky icky that got Richardson a four-week vacation from the NFL:

Per Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk, Richardson, who had 67 tackles and eight sacks a season ago, released a statement apologizing to his teammates and fans for the misstep:

"

I apologize for letting down my family, teammates, this organization and the fans. However, words aren’t enough. This is something that can only be addressed by how I handle myself from this point on. I don’t want this to take away from what the team is trying to accomplish. While I won’t be there at the start of the regular season, I will do whatever I can to support my teammates until I’m able to return to the field.

"

As ESPN's Trey Wingo pointed out, to say this suspension leaves a hole on the Jets defensive front is something of an understatement:

However, in the short term at least, this isn't as bad as it could have been, thanks in no small part to the selection of Williams.

Mind you, the 6'5", 302-pound Williams wasn't just the top defensive line prospect in this year's draft. Many pundits, including Mike Mayock of the NFL Network, considered the USC star the top prospect this year at any position.

"Williams was the best player in the draft regardless of position," Mayock said. "If you're the Jets, you had to take him. The sky's the limit with this kid. He's stout against the run and athletic as can be."

Well, we're going to find out just how athletic Williams is sooner as opposed to later. So much for easing Williams into the mix. It's learn by doing time for the youngster.

In the long term, however, the Richardson suspension further clouds water that was already much more Mississippi River than Pacific Ocean.

And for Richardson, this mistake could be incredibly expensive.

The third-year pro is many things. Shy is not one of them. Richardson wasn't shy when asked by the NFL Network (per Dom Cosentino of NJ.com) who the best player in the NFL was in 2014.

"I'm him," Richardson said.

And Richardson wasn't shy about telling Mehta how much scratch he believes he and Wilkerson (whose contract expires after the 2015 season) are worth on their next deals:

"

He’s worth that penny. And you know what penny I’m talking about. We don’t just want J.J. Watt money. We want it all. We want (Ndamukong) Suh money. Hopefully everybody wants that type of bread in this league.

"

"Just" J.J. Watt money? Watt is not exactly making eight bucks an hour.

The Jets already faced a quandary with Wilkerson, who skipped much of OTAs before finally reporting. After tallying 10.5 sacks in 2013, Wilkerson's numbers were down in an injury-shortened 2014 campaign, and new Jets general manager Mike Maccagnan hasn't seemed in any great rush to open the checkbook for the 25-year-old.

In fact, many pundits, including Joel Corry of CBS Sports (via Stu Woo of the Wall Street Journal), theorized that the selection of Williams could spell the beginning of the end for Wilkerson in the Big Apple.

“I would be reluctant to break the bank for Muhammad Wilkerson, granted that I have Leonard Williams in my back pocket," Corry said. “You don’t take him sixth overall to be a backup.”

If that was the plan, then the plan just got punched in the face.

But wait, it gets better! In theory, the Jets could have at least considered a new deal for Richardson after the 2015 season as he'll have three years of service. It's possible they might even have done so if Richardson had another big year and the team decided to part ways with Wilkerson.

Well, now there's a new consideration—Richardson's new spot on the chucklehead sliding scale that starts with a month off and ends with Josh Gordon.

So what are the Jets to do? The smart money says right now they won't do anything.

There just isn't any need. The team can let Wilkerson play out the final year of his rookie deal and then slap the franchise tag on him in 2016 if it chooses. The team can pick up a fifth-year option on Richardson next year that will keep him under contract through 2017, just as it did with Wilkerson.

You think maybe the teams (and their owners) won the last round of negotiations that resulted in the 2011 CBA?

Granted, that move isn't going to make Richardson any happier than Wilkerson is right now, but given Thursday's events, I doubt Maccagnan is overly concerned with making Richardson happy at the moment.

In that respect, the situation for the Jets on the field and off the field are similar. In the short term, things are fine. In the long term?

Well, let's just say if Maccagnan didn't already keep a bottle of Pepto-Bismol in his desk drawer, his first order of business Thursday was probably sending an intern to Walgreens.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter at @IDPSharks.