Steelers' Bryant accepts 1-year suspension

Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Martavis Bryant has accepted the one-year suspension handed to him by the NFL for multiple violations of the league's substance-abuse policy, the league announced Monday.

Bryant's suspension will begin immediately.

The 24-year-old was originally planning to appeal the suspension, but Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle notes that it was considered "unwinnable."

Bryant will be suspended for a minimum of one calendar year without pay for missing several drugs tests, meaning he'll lose $600,000 and will be eligible for reinstatement no sooner than 60 days before his suspension ends.

Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert released a statement on Bryant's suspension:

We are very disappointed that Martavis Bryant has put himself in this current situation of being suspended by the League. He is at a crossroads of his professional life, and he needs to understand significant changes need to occur in his personal life if he wants to regain his career as a Pittsburgh Steeler. We are hopeful that Martavis will take the necessary steps to develop the discipline in his personal life to become a successful player and a good teammate.

This is the second violation for the former fourth-round pick, who was suspended for the first four games of the 2015 after failing multiple marijuana tests.

He will enter rehab and undergo evaluation for depression, according to his agents.

The loss of Bryant will be a blow to the Steelers after he emerged as one of the league's most promising young wideouts last season after serving his first suspension.