By Joe Buscaglia, Zac Jackson and Cale Clinton
The NFL has issued a pair of suspensions for violations of the league’s personal conduct policy. Buffalo Bills edge rusher Von Miller received a four-game suspension, while Cleveland Browns defensive tackle Mike Hall Jr. was suspended five games.
Miller was arrested in late November 2023 for an alleged domestic violence incident, for which no charges were filed. Miller was made available to play in the now, with the suspension and possible removal from the roster in the 2025 offseason for cap reasons, his rocky tenure with the Bills is likely to make the 2022 signing viewed as a failed experiment despite the team’s championship aspirations.
The Miller suspension is another layer to Miller’s complicated story with the Bills. The team made major headlines in March of 2022 when they went all-in in their quest to win a Super Bowl to sign Miller, in his age-33 season, to one of the richest deals in franchise history. The contract that included $51 million guaranteed and effectively locked him in on the Bills roster for three seasons looked good at the start. Miller was one of the Bills’ best players, giving them an edge they had been missing for years. But a late-season torn ACL ended his 2022 season, and upon his return in 2023, he wasn’t the same player on the field, collecting zero sacks.
Even though Miller is a big name and one of their highest-paid players on the team, from an on-field perspective, the Bills aren’t going to be losing one of their key pieces of the starting lineup. At 35 years old, that’s just not who Miller is any longer and the team views him as more of a rotational pass rusher. Over the first four games, Miller averaged only 23.3 snaps per game, on the field for only 35 percent of the team’s defensive plays. Against the Ravens, Miller had only nine snaps total. Miller had three sacks through his first three games, two of which came against a team’s backup right tackle and the other being late in the game in a blowout of the Dolphins. Even still, he had shown more pass rushing ability than he had through the entire 2023 season while in his first year back from a torn ACL. They will miss some of that late-game pass rush ability, though they have a rookie in Javon Solomon who can capably fill in for that role until Miller returns Week 9 against the Miami Dolphins.
The Browns drafted Hall Jr. with the 54th pick of the 2024 NFL Draft. On August 13, Hall was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge. He rejoined the team the following day but was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list two weeks later, serving as a suspension with pay. Hall Jr. pleaded no contest to a reduced charge of misdemeanor disorderly conduct in an Ohio municipal court on September 19. He received a fine of $250, a 30-day suspended jail sentence and a two-year probation.
Hall will probably play as a rotational defensive tackle for the Browns, but maybe not right away. He’s just 21 and has been ineligible to practice since late August, so he will need to catch up. The Browns were willing to ignore pre-draft red flags on Hall and let him practice the day after the domestic violence incident, so he’s clearly in the team’s plans. But he was never going to be an immediate starter, and he will need to prove to his coaches that he’s ready to help as an interior pass rusher.
Because of his time on the exempt list, Hall has already served four of his five games of suspension but will have to forfeit his previous four game checks. He will be available to make his NFL debut in Week 6 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
(Photo: Timothy T Ludwig / Getty Images)
