1) Mike Neal got busted for the ADD medication Adderall, not steroids.
2) Braun signed a five year, $105M contract. Brady Anderson earned $46M in his entire 14 year career. Even if he doesn't come back he could retire to a nice island.
Adderall is a performance enhancing drug under NFL policy. It's speed by another name. Same thing Von Miller just got busted for. It is favored by NFL players on game day for focus and energy, while having the benefit of usually clearing the system in just a few days, minimizing (but not eliminating) the chance of detection.
Anybody could get an ADD diagnosis and a script if they know where to go, just as anybody in California can get a script for medical marijuana. I don't know if Neal's story is legit...I don't know if it isn't...but he violated policy and the "I forgot to tell the NFL" excuse stretches believability since Adderall is all over the radar.
NFL players probably don't use steroids very much because of the testing regime and the fact they can take a long time to clear the system. Guys who get busted for it are dumb or desperate. However, Human Growth Hormone use is probably rampant since there is no NFL testing regime for it.
MLB started HGH in-season testing this season; the NBA is working on it for next season; the NFL/NFLPA is discussing groundwork. They want to test every player to start out to get a "baseline" of what's "normal" against which to measure subsequent tests. Sounds to me like they might end up with an elevated baseline...but that's probably what they want anyway.
We don't know specifically which drug Braun got busted for. It could have been HGH. Biogenesis makes pitches for anti-aging "supplements"...HGH is certainly pitched in that category, even on TV to ordinary Joes. Conveniently, it increases muscle mass, decreases body fat and increases exercise capacity (read: weight room endurance). If Braun was busted for HGH, that would have been perfectly legal at this time in the NFL.
How much money Braun or Anderson might have made is not relevant. Brady Anderson hit 50 HRs in 1996 toward the beginning of the steroid era, with no more than 24 in any other year. Why he went off the juice we'll never know...maybe he was afraid of getting caught going into his contract year. Good defensive player and good speed, though. What will Braun's numbers look like post-doping?