The NFL temporarily places the New York Giants cornerback, DeAndre Baker, and the Seattle Seahawks cornerback, Quinton Dunbar, on the commissioner’s exceptions list.
Baker was asked to stay away from virtual meetings this spring after police in Miramar, Florida, charged him with four armed robbery and four firearm charges. Dunbar faces four armed robbery charges.
Both players are in custody and have received court permission to travel outside of the state with their work.
Baker and Dunbar are waiting for a decision by the prosecutor to investigate the case.
In the meantime, this will keep Baker, the Giants’ first choice last year, and Dunbar, which Seattle had acquired in a trade this off-season, away from the training camp. The Commissioner’s exception list allows them to be paid until a decision is made.
Dunbar participated in the virtual off-season in Seattle this spring. Players on the exceptions list can request to use the team facilities on an “appropriate basis for meetings, individual training, therapy and rehabilitation, and other permitted non-football activities”.
The 23-year-old Baker arrived in the city on the weekend at the start of the Giants camp. Veterans will report back on Tuesday.
His NFL attorney, Patrick Patel, said he sees “no reason” to put his client on the exemptions pending a decision on law enforcement.
The league ultimately decided differently. This was the giant preference at Baker at the time. It enables Baker to deal with his legal problems without distracting the team. The team must not take part in meetings or activities outside of football.
Baker had recently trained in Miami to prepare for the camp.
The Giants shared with Baker in last year’s draft, although at least two teams announced to ESPN last spring that the former Georgia All-American had red flags. He then had a rocky rookie year on and off the field. Two players referred to Baker as “handful” last year and he was put on a bench late in the season after coach Pat Shurmur made him aware of his efforts in front of the entire team.
The Seahawks acquired Dunbar for a fifth round selection in a March deal with Washington. This was her biggest off-season acquisition until her recent deal with Jamal Adams. Dunbar is expected to provide a base salary of $ 3.25 million in the last year of its contract, with an additional $ 250,000 in roster bonuses per game, none of which is guaranteed.
Although players are paid on the commissioner’s exception list, they do not count towards their team’s roster limit. The Seahawks will get a roster position, but will not get any relief with Dunbar as long as it stays on the list. The Seahawks split nine players on Sunday to reach 81. Since Dunbar is on the exception list and no longer counts against the squad, Seattle will reach the new league limit of 80.
If Dunbar is unavailable, the Seahawks will return to Tre Flowers, who started the last two seasons on the right corner opposite Shaquill Griffin. The ups and downs of Flowers 2019 were a major factor in Seattle’s takeover of Dunbar.
According to the original arrest warrant, Baker and Dunbar were accused of violently stealing money and watches using semi-automatic firearms. It was said that Baker had deliberately threatened the victims with a firearm. According to the sworn statement of the arrest warrant, several witnesses said at one point during the incident that Baker had ordered another suspect, wearing a red mask, to shoot a person who was just entering the party.
The case has taken some turns since then. The witnesses quickly signed affidavits changing their original story, and the New York Daily News reported that a search warrant indicated that a witness to the alleged robbery was supervising a payment to victims in the office of former Dunbar attorney Michael Grieco .
The league has said in the past few weeks that the matter is still under investigation.
It is not known that Baker and Dunbar have an earlier crime story.
Brady Henderson of ESPN contributed to this report.
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