Jordan Addison cannot afford any hiccups in his ongoing legal battle with just two weeks before Minnesota Vikings training camp.
However, his DUI case in Los Angeles has already taken an “unexpected turn,” according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, who was a lawyer for 18 years previously.
According to online records, Addison’s trial was scheduled to start on Tuesday, July 15. While a hearing was held, there appears to be an impasse in the process as an additional “pretrial hearing” was scheduled for Thursday, July 17.
What “pretrial hearing” means is up for debate and overbroad. However, Florio speculated that it could either be grounds for a “plea deal that is formalized at the hearing.”
“It could be (and this is just an example) that there’s some unresolved issue of evidence that the judge decided to address at a standalone hearing before the trial begins,” Florio added.
No matter what the pretrial hearing, which followed a previous hearing, is about, it could be grounds for a less-than-expeditious process in court, with Vikings training camp scheduled to begin on July 27.
“Whatever it is, the clock is ticking on the question of whether Addison can get this resolved before he’s due to show up at training camp in Minnesota. Now is the time to get this thing resolved,” Florio wrote. “And the lingering employment problem for Addison continues to be this — any outcome that suggests responsibility will trigger a baseline suspension of three games without pay.”
NFL’s Timeline for Addison Decision
In legal matters involving NFL players, the league tends to let the criminal or civil processes play out before making a call of its own.
ESPN’s Dan Graziano previously reported in August 2024 that the Vikings expect Addison to be suspended, but at the time, there was the possibility it could be a midseason suspension during the 2024 season.
Addison had a pretrial conference held in January and entered a guilty plea, which pushed the trial date back to this summer.
The NFL will likely act swiftly in suspending Addison if he is found guilty or takes a plea deal.
League rules state that a first offense involving “substances of abuse” is punishable by a three-game suspension without pay, “absent aggravating circumstances,” Seifert reported previously.
Addison, who has had car-related run-ins with the law the past two summers, has kept out of trouble this summer as the defendant in a criminal case.
Vikings are Prepared to Lose Addison
Last year, the threat of losing Addison before the start of the season would have left the Vikings without two top receiving options in Addison and T.J. Hockenson, who was recovering from knee surgery.
Fortunately for J.J. McCarthy, Hockenson is healthy and will be an early pressure-release valve for the young quarterback over the middle.
The Vikings also drafted third-round rookie Tai Felton, who fits Addison’s mold as a speedy vertical threat that can capitalize outside.
There also might be something there with Rondale Moore, a former second-round pick by the Arizona Cardinals who was one of the most-promising athletic receivers coming out of college in 2021.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Vikings’ Jordan Addision Facing Uncertain Trial, Analyst Says appeared first on Heavy Sports.