The Miami Dolphins situation is in the hands of NFL investigator Ted Wells and one Friday they will speak to Jonathan Martin and as that is going on, suspended lineman Richie Incognito has filed a grievance after being suspended indefinitely for conduct detrimental to the team.
ESPN.com is reporting that under the CBA, Incognito can be suspended for four games before the team must decide to add him back to the roster or release him on waivers. The Dolphins have not said what they plan to do and the report says that a grievance would be heard by a neutral arbitrator and this comes after Martin left the team after he felt harassed by Incognito and other teammates.
Incognito is in the middle of the situation, but it is likely to move up even higher with the Dolphins and now the team has to make a decision on Incognito. The Miami Dolphins situation involving Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito now moves a bit onto the football field, as the team plays the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night in Week 10 and some news coming out about the situation includes a deadline for the Dolphins involving Incognito.
According to Pro Football Talk, the team must decide whether or not to release Incognito or add him back to the active roster by December 2, as a player suspended for conduct detrimental, according to the CBA, must be under those rules. The suspension can last four games and while they can reinstate him and then suspend him again, the team likely will not do that and with the Dolphins and Incognito trying to deflect the blame into Martin, it will be interesting to see what happens with Incognito. Dolphins players love him and the coaches liked him enough to let him on the leadership council AFTER he molested a woman with a golf club at a TEAM event while drunk, so obviously they know where their priorities are.
The team has an interesting decision to make and Incognito could end up on another team if he makes it through waivers and it should be noted that the Dolphins are in a tough position, as they could make for a hostile environment for Martin the way players have been talking. According to ESPN.com, owner Stephen Ross sent Martin a text message last week to give his support for him in this situation, saying that he wants to give everyone in the organization a comfortable work environment, which clearly did not occur for Martin all this time.
Ted Wells is looking into the situation for the NFL and it will be interesting to see Martin's full statement when he is ready for it. In other news, Jimmy Johnson said that the Dolphins made a mistake in drafting Martin, while many have come out to speak about the culture in NFL locker rooms, including in Miami.
"You can ask anybody in the Miami Dolphins' locker room who had Jon Martin's back the absolute most, and they will undoubtedly tell you [it was me]," Incognito told Fox Sports. "Jon never showed signs that football was getting to him [or] the locker room was getting to him."
