Baker, Dunbar Wanted on Armed Robbery Charges, NFL Careers in Jeopardy?
It’s a quiet time in the sports world right now as we await news on how things are progressing in talks for the NBA and NHL to return along with MLB getting their season started. The NFL was dominant in the news cycle at the end of April with the NFL Draft and then last week with the schedule release but things are fairly quiet at that point right now. NASCAR comes back this week, UFC holds its third card in a week on Saturday and we know golf returns next month as far as the PGA Tour. That makes for a lot of airtime to fill and when something off the field takes place, it’s going to become a major news story.
On Thursday, it was announced that arrest warrants have been issued for New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker and Seattle corner Quinton Dunbar by the Miramar Police for an incident that took place on Wednesday evening. According to police reports, Baker is being charged with four counts of armed robbery with a firearm and four counts of aggravated assault with a firearm. Dunbar is wanted on four counts of armed robbery with a firearm.
The incident in question took place Wednesday night at a party where it is said that Baker and Dunbar stole money and watches from people at a party while having semi-automatic weapons in their possession. According to the report, Baker threatened partygoers with his weapon. Meanwhile, there are other witness reports about whether Baker told a third individual to shoot another person that was just entering the party. The NFL had no real comment about the matter other than to state that they were aware of the situation. Eventually, one has to think that the league will review the incident and that there will be some hefty punishment that comes down at that point.
According to reports, the players looted at least three watches and over $7,000 in cash before jumping into vehicles that were parked in an easy spot to make a getaway after the incident. There is speculation that the incident took place as a result of a gambling dispute and that the pair lost more than $70,000 earlier this month at a party in Miami with gambling the main cause of those losses.
Baker was a first-round pick last season by the Giants, taken 30th overall after New York gave up three picks to move back into the end of the opening round to get him. He is a talented player but he was flagged by a couple of teams due to attitude problems. Last season, he had his struggles as a rookie and found himself benched at times for a lack of effort and performance on the field. Baker gave up seven scores as the nearest defender last season, the fourth-most in the NFL. Opposing QBs had a hefty 116.2 passer rating when targeting him last year. Dunbar finished with 37 tackles, one tackle for loss, eight pass defenses and four interceptions last season for Washington. He was traded to Seattle back in March and the Seahawks had hopes that he would be able to step in and be a playmaker in the secondary.
According to Joe Fann, as of late Friday morning, neither player had turned themselves in to Miramar Police. The department has been in contact with representatives for both players but nothing further has developed about their turning themselves in at this point. One has to wonder if this will be an unceremonious end to a pair of NFL careers. Baker would have thrown his away at the age of 22, perhaps proving the thought processes of those teams who considered him a risky proposition to be accurate. As it stands, should he have actually had a weapon, he’d be facing up to 15 years in prison for each of the four charges for armed robbery. Sure, a plea bargain could seriously reduce those numbers but the fact remains that he’s in serious trouble.
As for Dunbar, he was expected to play on the opposite side of Tre Flowers in the secondary but, depending on how things play out, he could find himself out of a job as well. Cutting him would give the Seahawks an additional $3.5 million in cap room to work with at that point. This incident, in addition to potentially signaling the end of a pair of careers, could drive up some interest in a pair of free-agent corners that have yet to find new landing places in the offseason. Look for Logan Ryan and Dre Kirkpatrick, among others, to see their interest level increased in the coming days as this unfolds.