Bills DT Marcell Dareus violates team rule, sent home from preseason game

Frank Schwab
·NFL writer
Marcell Dareus was sent home from Saturday's preseason game for violating a team rule. (AP)
Marcell Dareus was sent home from Saturday’s preseason game for violating a team rule. (AP)

Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Marcell Dareus violated a team rule, was sent home and won’t play in Saturday’s preseason game. Every veteran NFL player is now asking, “How can I be sent home and not have to play in a preseason game?”

While the Bills didn’t specify what Dareus did, it was enough to get him booted from a preseason game.

Punishing Dareus is a big part of new coach Sean McDermott and new general manager Brandon Beane “creating a culture,” which you may have heard about 14,794 times this offseason if you paid the slightest attention to the Bills.

“Sean and I are going to do things the right way,” Beane said, according to the Bills’ Twitter. “He violated a team rule, so we sent him home. Disappointing.”

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The problem is Dareus has been in trouble plenty of times before. Dareus was suspended one game in 2015 for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. In 2016, he was suspended four games for violating the policy again. Even though he said last year he had learned from his mistakes, being sent home Saturday indicates he hasn’t.

Dareus is a fantastic talent. He was the third pick of the 2011 draft, right after Cam Newton and Von Miller, and the Bills gave him a six-year, $96.6 million deal in 2015. But if the Bills’ new regime is serious about Changing The Culture it seems like Dareus isn’t the kind of player who would be in their plans, at least unless he really does learn from his mistakes.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!