The Ravens released kicker Justin Tucker (9) in May amid the NFL's investigation of him. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
Former Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker will be suspended for the first 10 weeks of the NFL’s 2025 regular season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.
The NFL has been investigating allegations of inappropriate conduct during massage therapy sessions made against Tucker. The Ravens released Tucker last month. Team officials said the move was made for football-related considerations. Tucker has denied the accusations.
The suspension comes after discussions between the league, Tucker’s representatives and the NFL Players Association.
The NFL had not specified a timetable for completing its investigation. Under the version of the personal conduct policy put in place by the 2020 collective bargaining agreement between the league and union, the NFL conducts its investigation and reaches a finding as to whether it believes there was a violation of the policy. The league and union then can reach an agreement on a resolution that could include disciplinary measures.
If they’re unable to reach such a resolution, the case goes before their jointly appointed disciplinary officer, former U.S. district judge Sue L. Robinson. Each side makes a recommendation to Robinson, and she resolves the case. Either side can appeal her decision to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell or an appeals officer appointed by him.
Only one disciplinary case is known to have gone before Robinson since this version of the conduct policy was implemented. That resulted in an 11-game suspension without pay and a $5 million fine for Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2022 for violating the personal conduct policy based on allegations of sexual misconduct.
In Watson’s case, the league sought an indefinite suspension of at least one full season. Robinson conducted a hearing and imposed a six-game suspension. The NFL appealed, and the league and union reached a settlement on an 11-game suspension and $5 million fine while that appeal was pending.
Tucker has not been charged with a crime and faces no known civil lawsuits. The accusations by 16 women involving massage therapy sessions from 2012 to 2016 were made in reports by the Baltimore Banner.
Tucker, 35, is a free agent following his release by the Ravens. He was a seven-time Pro Bowl selection and a five-time all-pro over his 13 seasons with the Ravens. He connected on 89.1 percent of his field goal attempts, making him the most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history. The Ravens selected a kicker, Tyler Loop, in the sixth round of the NFL draft in April.
“Sometimes football decisions are incredibly difficult, and this is one of those instances,” General Manager Eric DeCosta said in a written statement when the Ravens released Tucker. “Considering our current roster, we have made the tough decision to release Justin Tucker.”
Coach John Harbaugh said at a rookie minicamp just before the Ravens released Tucker that the team had no information to that point about the league’s investigation.
“From the standpoint of the investigation and all that, we don’t know anything,” Harbaugh said then. “We haven’t been given any information, as it should be. It’s all done the way it’s done. So we don’t know anything along those lines. So you can’t make any decisions based on that. Every decision we make has to be based on football. There’s a lot of layers to that. You know, you’ve got a rookie kicker in here. You took him in the sixth round, early in the sixth round. He’s a talented guy. Just from a football standpoint — salary cap, you know, all the different things that you just take into consideration — whatever we decide to do over the next few weeks will be based on football.”