The Giants haven’t told DeAndre Baker to stay away.
And so he plans to come back.
The troubled 2019 first-round pick, arrested on four counts of armed robbery and four counts of aggravated assault in Florida, is expected to appear at training camp, alongside other veteran players on Tuesday. .
As of Friday afternoon, the Giants had not informed Baker camp that he was not welcome at their facility. Baker alerted Broward County officials that he was traveling to New Jersey on Sunday. Baker would then show up to his second camp in the NFL on Tuesday to receive his first of two required COVID-19 tests, then join his teammates and check in at the team’s hotel for two days of virtual meetings.
The Giants declined to comment when asked if Baker and kicker Aldrick Rosas – facing three misdemeanor charges following a hit-and-run collision in California – are welcome at camp if nothing changes with status legal one or the other by then.
“The Florida case is still pending and we hope for a dismissal soon,” Patrick Patel, one of Baker’s attorneys, told The Post on Friday. “But right now DeAndre’s ONLY concern is the team. And he won’t be a distraction or discuss the matter. Everything now revolves around the Giants and teammates. He can’t wait to be in the field and not be informed of the news.
The Giants have told Baker to skip the virtual offseason schedule and focus on his legal issues, so re-assimilation with his teammates is a step in the long road to reclaiming his starting cornerback position.
The Broward County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment on Thursday on the status of its investigation into the charges against the Seahawks’ Baker and Quinton Dunbar. Baker’s attorneys have denied the accusers’ payment claims as suggested in a police warrant, saying they alerted authorities to an attempt to catch the accusers in a corruption scam. Dunbar’s lawyers have backed out on the matter.
“This investigation has more twists and turns than the highlights of Barry Sanders,” prosecutor Alex Urruela told court in a hearing this week, according to the Miami Herald. “As the evidence comes in, the assessments change.”
Rosas has been charged with reckless driving, collision damage to property and driving with a suspended license due to a previous DUI in California. He has a Sept. 4 arraignment hearing that does not require an in-person appearance and the case is unlikely to be resolved before that date, so he also plans to make a report, sources told the Post.
The NFL Commissioner’s Exemption List is a temporary fix often used for unresolved legal cases, including by the Giants last summer. Only the league – not the teams – can put a player on the exemption list.
It applies “when a player is formally accused of a crime of violence, that is to say he is accused of having used physical force or a weapon to injure or threaten another person” and when he “has engaged in other behavior which presents a real danger to the safety or well-being of another person.” “
A player on the bypass list does not count towards the list limits and cannot train or attend games, but may be in the facility on a reasonable basis for meetings, training sessions individual, therapy and rehabilitation, and other permitted activities unrelated to football. If a player is on the bye list during the regular season, he will be granted paid leave.
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