NFL

NFL PED Policy Explained: Testing, Banned Substances and Suspensions

Oct 23, 2026 • an hour ago

The NFL Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances is a jointly bargained program between the league and the NFL Players Association that bans steroids, growth hormones, stimulants, masking agents and related substances, tests players year-round and suspends those who test positive. Recreational drugs such as marijuana fall under a separate Policy and Program on Substances of Abuse, which is built around treatment and fines rather than suspensions for positive tests.

2026 season reference, as of October 2026. Updated each season at this address.

What is the NFL PED policy?

The Policy on Performance-Enhancing Substances is written and agreed by the NFL Management Council and the NFLPA, and the collective bargaining agreement (Article 39, Section 9) incorporates it, along with the substance abuse policy, into the CBA. Because it is collectively bargained, neither side can change it alone. This page is based on the 2024 edition of the policy, last updated December 2, 2024, which is the most recent edition the NFLPA publishes. No 2025 or 2026 edition could be found.

The policy bars players from having a prohibited substance in their system without a valid therapeutic use exemption (TUE), and from supplying banned substances to other players. Coaches, trainers, team doctors, club staff and certified agents can also be disciplined for helping a player use them. The league gives three reasons for the ban: fair competition, player health, and the message drug use sends to young athletes.

The program is run by an Independent Administrator chosen and paid jointly by the league and the union. The 2024 policy names Dr. John Lombardo to the role. The Independent Administrator alone decides how players are selected, when tests happen, and whether a possible violation goes forward. The policy says the NFL, the NFLPA and the clubs may not direct the testing schedule or pick which players are tested. A jointly appointed Chief Forensic Toxicologist audits the testing labs and certifies their results.

What substances are banned?

The prohibited list is Appendix A of the policy. It is organized into broad categories:

Anabolic agents: anabolic-androgenic steroids (including outside testosterone), protein and peptide hormones such as human growth hormone, hCG, IGF-1 and EPO, other anabolic agents such as clenbuterol, anti-estrogens, and SARMs such as ostarine and ligandrol.
Masking agents: diuretics, including the water pills some players have used to make weight.
Stimulants: amphetamines (including Adderall without a TUE), ephedrine, modafinil, methylhexaneamine (DMAA) and many others.
Doping methods: blood doping, tampering with or substituting a sample, gene doping, and IV infusions that are not medically necessary and given under a doctor's supervision.

The list in the 2024 policy was last updated on August 8, 2022. For the named substances, see the NFL banned substance list.

Are peptides banned in the NFL?

Many are. The peptide hormone section names growth hormone releasing hormones (including CJC-1295, sermorelin and tesamorelin), growth hormone secretagogues (including ipamorelin and ibutamoren), growth hormone releasing peptides such as GHRP-6 and hexarelin, and BPC-157. The steroid, SARM and diuretic sections also each cover "other substances with a similar chemical structure and similar biological effect(s)." A substance that is missing from the list is not automatically allowed.

Ingredients not named on the list

Some ingredients come up often in searches, such as S-allyl cysteine (a compound found in aged garlic extract) and the supplement products that contain it. These do not appear by name on Appendix A. That does not mean the league has cleared them. The policy sends supplement questions to the Independent Administrator or the NFLPA, and it states that a club trainer or doctor saying a label looks clean will not excuse a positive test. No official ruling on S-allyl cysteine could be found.

How NFL drug testing works

All testing is done under the policy by a jointly approved collection company. Samples go to WADA-accredited labs, which the 2024 edition names as the UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory and the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory in Salt Lake City. A positive "A" sample can be challenged by analyzing the "B" sample, and the player can have an independent toxicologist watch that analysis.

How often do NFL players get drug tested?

Testing type	Urine	Blood (growth hormone)
Annual	Every player at least once per league year, at training camp as part of the preseason physical	20% of each club's players in annual testing, chosen at random
Preseason and regular season	10 players per club, chosen at random each week	2 of those 10 players per club each week
Postseason	10 players per club each week while the club is still playing	5 of those 10 players per club each week
Offseason	Random, at the Independent Administrator's discretion, up to 6 tests per player	10% of each club's offseason picks; can replace the urine test
Combine and pre-employment	Tested at the scouting combine; free agents can be tested before signing	Tested at the scouting combine
Reasonable cause	For players with a prior positive or credible evidence, up to 24 urine and/or blood tests per year	At the Independent Administrator's discretion, within the same cap

A computer program makes the random selections, and a player can be picked again no matter how many times he has already been tested. Outside reasonable cause testing, a player cannot be blood tested more than six times in a calendar year. Growth hormone is tested with dried blood spots, and blood cannot be collected on game day before or during a game. The labs can also run carbon isotope ratio tests on up to 15% of samples to detect outside testosterone.

At a team facility, tests happen without warning. Offseason tests can be scheduled by phone or text, at a site within 45 miles of the player, and the player must give his sample within 24 hours. Players must keep their contact details and travel plans up to date on the league's drug policy website. Recording or posting any part of the collection process brings a $15,000 fine. For more on collection, see the NFL testing procedure for PEDs.

NFL PED suspensions: the discipline schedule

Suspensions are imposed by the Commissioner and are unpaid. The 2024 edition sets these lengths:

Violation	First offense	Second offense	Third offense
Stimulant, diuretic or masking agent	2 games	5 games	Banishment for at least 2 seasons
Anabolic agent (steroids, hGH, SARMs and similar)	6 games	17 games	Banishment for at least 2 seasons
Prohibited substance plus a masking agent; attempt to substitute, dilute or tamper with a sample or manipulate a result	8 games	17 games for tampering or manipulation; otherwise by substance type	Banishment for at least 2 seasons

Games counted are regular-season and postseason games. A banished player can ask the Commissioner for reinstatement after 24 months. A player can also be disciplined without a positive test if he is convicted or admits to a steroid-related crime, or if there is enough credible documented evidence that he used or distributed PEDs. Section 5 says a first violation of this kind can bring a suspension of up to six games at the Commissioner's discretion, but the Section 6 schedule lists eight games for a Section 5 violation. A second Section 5 violation carries 17 games.

Suspended players cannot be voted to the Pro Bowl or win league or union awards that season. If a player is suspended before or during the preseason, he can play in the preseason and the suspension starts once final rosters are set. Unserved games carry into the next season. Before returning, a player must test clean. Since a December 2024 change, the Independent Administrator can still clear a player who tests positive again for the same substance, if he decides the leftover amount gives no performance benefit.

Missing a test without a valid reason is a separate violation. The first miss brings a fine of up to $25,000 and reasonable cause testing, the second a fine of two weeks' pay, and the third a two-game suspension. A deliberate effort to dodge testing is treated as a positive test.

A stimulant positive outside the playing season is handled differently. It is not disciplined under the PED policy and goes instead to the substance abuse program.

How appeals work

A player has five business days after notice of discipline to file an appeal. Appeals of positive tests are heard by neutral arbitrators who are chosen and paid jointly by the league and the union. During the season, the hearing is normally held on the fourth Tuesday after the notice, and the player can bring a lawyer. The league only has to prove that the positive result came from an authorized test that followed the collection and lab protocols. It does not have to prove intent. The arbitrator cannot cut a suspension below the policy's minimums and can overturn one only if the violation itself is not established. A suspension does not start until the appeal is decided. A player who helps the league prove another person's violation can have his suspension reduced by up to half. Section 5 cases are heard by the Commissioner or his designee, with a narrow further appeal to the CBA's Appeals Panel.

NFL substance abuse policy: marijuana and recreational drugs

Marijuana, cocaine, opioids, MDMA, PCP and the misuse of alcohol or prescription drugs are governed by the separate Policy and Program on Substances of Abuse. That program is run by a Medical Director and is built around evaluation and treatment.

Is marijuana banned in the NFL?

Marijuana is still a prohibited substance, but it is treated far more lightly than it once was. The 2020 CBA cut the testing window from four months to two weeks at the start of training camp, raised the positive-test threshold from 35 to 150 nanograms, and ended suspensions based only on a positive test. A December 2024 change raised the THC threshold again, to 350 ng/mL. Under the 2024 policy, the THC test happens between the start of training camp and the club's first preseason game, as part of the annual PED test. Tests for the other drugs on the panel run once between April 20 and August 9.

A positive test puts a player in Stage One of the program, which is evaluation. Players who need treatment move to Stage Two. In Stage Two, positive tests bring fines only: $15,000 for the first, $20,000 for the second, one week's salary for the third, and two weeks' salary after that. Suspensions in the program are reserved for repeated failures to cooperate with testing or treatment, starting at three games for the fourth such violation. Arrests are handled separately. A first offense for an alcohol-related violation of law normally brings a three-game suspension, and a first offense involving other drugs brings up to four games.

Supplements: are players responsible for what they take?

Yes. The policy is strict liability. A positive test is not excused because it came from a contaminated or mislabeled supplement, or because the player did not know the product contained a banned substance. The policy's supplement notices tell players that they alone are responsible for what goes into their bodies, and they urge players to avoid supplements altogether.

For players who do use them, the policy points to three resources: the NSF Certified for Sport product listings, USADA's Supplement 411 site, and the Independent Administrator directly. Certified for Sport is an independent NSF program that tests supplements for banned substances and checks that the label is accurate. NSF lists the NFL among the leagues that recommend it. The NFL and NFLPA started their own NSF-run supplement certification program in 2004. Even so, nothing in the 2024 policy says that using a certified product is a defense to a positive test.

For an earlier look at the full policy text, see the NFL's full PED policy.