Dunbar on commish exempt list

[Sgt. Largent]

NFL seems to be opening themselves up to a pretty hefty lawsuit if they just suspend him indefinitely, especially if he is able to eventually wiggle out of charges when this goes to court. I'm hearing that due to covid he might not go to court until 2021/2022.

Doesn't matter what the end result of Dunbar's legal matters are, as we found out with Reed they can suspend a player that wasn't even arrested or convicted of anything.

All the exempt status tells us is that the league sees this as a serious enough offense to not even wait for the legal proceedings to conclude, they're going to not let him practice or play immediately.

Now the ball's in the John and Pete's court to either pay him for sitting all year, or cut him. My guess? Dunbar's going to get cut. Why pay a guy for a year or two when you can free up his salary to use elsewhere.

Hmm I know what they have done in the past but Ive never heard of a situation where it could potentially drag on for years with no apparent hard evidence of any wrong doing occurring. Not sure what his legal rights in all this is, but I think if they NFL suspends him until this is all cleared up and it lasts years I could see this being grounds to sue the NFL and change how they conduct business.

The main argument I would think Dunbar could make is that without being convicted of anything the NFL caused him to directly miss out on making mutli millions of dollars in the prime of his career playing in the only league available for him to make a reasonable salary using the skills he has.

I know this is an argument that can be made in other careers where there is no real substitute for their trade skills. Not sure how many protections the NFL has in place against this, but I would guess if this happens the way it appears to be happening we will find out soon enough.

The NFL isn't beholden to anti trust laws and practices.

That mean they have complete autonomy when it comes to most legal and FTC matters. Create their own network, bypass all those rules and regulations.....and in this case they're exempt from normal workplace laws when it comes to adhering to firing, fining and suspending players without the involvement or conclusion of the courts.

So again, as there is dozens and dozens of examples of players (and owners/coaches) being fined and suspended without any legal implications, they can exempt Dunbar if they want........and they did.

All the league office cares about is does this violate the CBA, and it doesn't.

 

[Elemas]

I'm all for innocent until proven guilty but, this case could stretch out a bit.

If he's innocent and we cut him, we lose out on an upgrade over Tre although we save some cap space.

If we keep him, he could still be on the exempt list until his case is solved. Eat up space, regardless of the outcome of his trial.

Factor in the unknown with covid (i.e, will this season really, actually happen?) and you've simply got a mess.

Safe bet is to cut ties and move on. Tre has LOTS of room to improve but with the addition of Adam's and a healthy Diggs, I'm thinking he would be "ok".

Adam's, Diggs, Shaq, and Dunbar would've been nice but I see a cut coming.

 

[chris98251]

He came to Seattle and I am sure talked to Pete and John, I am sure the league also talked to Pete and John, he is a excellent addition, some here would cut ties with players for bumping into a display in a Grocery Store though.

This will get resolved, I can't see the league holding a player and team Hostage over a situation with so much misinformation and different accounts. His legal team will get this sorted out I hope at least short term quickly.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

It does seem really odd that with him likely not even getting a court date until maybe 2021, that he can just get put on this list. Pretty strange case in general, inconsistencies from witnesses, the story changing a few times etc.

 

[chris98251]

It does seem really odd that with him likely not even getting a court date until maybe 2021, that he can just get put on this list. Pretty strange case in general, inconsistencies from witnesses, the story changing a few times etc.

Well Baker is appealing it, so if he wins Dunbar can piggy back it, of not Dunbar can try and use a different strategy.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Fingers, legs and nads crossed

 

[Sgt. Largent]

It does seem really odd that with him likely not even getting a court date until maybe 2021, that he can just get put on this list. Pretty strange case in general, inconsistencies from witnesses, the story changing a few times etc.

Employees get put on paid leave all the time pending legal or company issues.

I know we're all looking for excused for Dunbar to play, but there isn't a gray area here. Goodell and the league office felt this pending legal issue was serious enough to not let the legal proceedings play out before suspending him.

The Hawks could certainly just keep paying him to retain his rights. But I doubt we'll do that, considering even after Dunbar's legal mess is over, he'll probably still get suspended for a very long time, innocent or not.

 

[TwistedHusky]

I thought we were all expecting this?

How is this news? The commissioner has a long and storied history of punishing for arbitrary reasons and without the trial.

It makes complete sense that we cannot have a player playing football then later found out to be committing serious crimes. Sure, the financial crimes thing we skated on with a player - but any player even accused of a firearms or domestic assault is going to end up on this list until they are cleared.

There is too much potential damage to the brand to find out later a player committed serious crimes and was allowed to play (no repeat of the Ray Lewis situation).

Isn't this one of the big reasons we had to make the Adams trade in the first place?

Now, we get our salary cap space back, correct?

What did we give up to get Dunbar? Do we get any kind of comp pick for the 5th we lost for him?

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Now, we get our salary cap space back, correct?

Yes. We can even pay him and have it not count against the cap.

What did we give up to get Dunbar? Do we get any kind of comp pick for the 5th we lost for him?

5th rounder, and I have no idea about the comp pick. Doubt we get a comp pick back for a player that's suspended indefinitely unless some other team is stupid enough to pick him up in free agency should we cut him.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Dunbar's attorney, Andrew Rier, told ESPN that his client plans to appeal his placement on the exempt list within the next 72 hours. Rier said he believes the NFL "jumped the gun" before the state has decided whether to prosecute.

"My client has been arrested. My client has not been indicted. My client has not been formally charged," Rier said. "The letter that the NFL issued indicates specifically that the reason that DeAndre Baker and Quinton Dunbar are exempt is because they've been formally charged. They have not."

 

[chrispy]

It doesn't sound like they're going to cut him.

The ESPN article noted above says that the Seahawks' cuts yesterday took them down to 81. With Dunbar to the exempt list, that hits the roster requirement of 80 players. That confirms they knew about the move ahead of time. It also strongly implies that the FO consciously decided not to cut him. If cutting him was certain, there would have been no reason to wait.

Maybe they're just waiting to see things unfold through the appeal (article also says Dunbar is appealing). But the situation isn't going to be resolved before Camp. The appeal seemed to have some merit in that the designation to the Exempt List did refer to being "formally charged" and they haven't been yet. Of course that could mean that the NFL knows charges are imminent. It also isn't required to be charged to be put on the list so Goodell can just correct the letter and move on with life too. ...just sounds like there's more to play out before anything is predictable.

 

[hawkfan68]

Now, we get our salary cap space back, correct?

Yes. We can even pay him and have it not count against the cap.

What did we give up to get Dunbar? Do we get any kind of comp pick for the 5th we lost for him?

5th rounder, and I have no idea about the comp pick. Doubt we get a comp pick back for a player that's suspended indefinitely unless some other team is stupid enough to pick him up in free agency should we cut him.

Dunbar’s salary does count against the cap. At least according to this - https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id...r-quinton-dunbar-put-commissioner-exempt-list

“Although players on the commissioner's exempt list get paid, they do not count against their team's roster limit. So the Seahawks will get a roster spot but will not get any cap relief with Dunbar while he remains on the list. The Seahawks parted with nine players Sunday to get to 81. With Dunbar going on the exempt list and no longer counting against the roster, Seattle will be at the new league-mandated limit of 80.”

 

[ivotuk]

What an idiot. These guys think they won't get caught? With cameras everywhere?

The NFL is going to rightfully take precautions when gunsr may have beene involved. Airhead Hernumbnuts taught them about that.

They've already gotten a reputation for being soft on players, and are now starting to hold them accountable. Again, rightfully so. The NFL gets info we'll never see, and I'm sure the NFLPA does, and makes their decision based on that. Something damning that for whatever reason isn't admissible in Court, is all they need because of the contract.

And the NFLPA doesn't want these guys around to start making fans believe that all players are like that. If I had a co-worker accused of brandishing weapons, I'd want them gone! Yesterday! Look addy how Airhead treated his buddy... shot him in the head.

 

[ivotuk]

https://sports.mynorthwest.com/1116581/ ... empt-list/


“All four victims have given sworn statements that they were paid at the office that day to recant their sworn initial statements against Dunbar by signing affidavits. Combined, the four men say they were paid a total of $55,000,” the story reported.

Soon after, Grieco and another lawyer that Dunbar added to his legal team withdrew from the legal proceedings. Grieco is now being investigated by the Florida Bar Association for allegedly paying off the victims.

 

[chris98251]

That kind of makes them unreliable witnesses now though also.

 

[jammerhawk]

What a total cluster flock of incredibly foolish people.

The new system for reviews of suspensions will be tested with this matter.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Chris is right, very unreliable witnesses. How can they be truly taken serious when they have changed their stories numerous times?

 

[Seymour]

NFL seems to be opening themselves up to a pretty hefty lawsuit if they just suspend him indefinitely, especially if he is able to eventually wiggle out of charges when this goes to court. I'm hearing that due to covid he might not go to court until 2021/2022.

That is why it's handier than a Peter at a picnic to have Gawd running the NFL. Doesn't care about the courts. He is judge, jurry, and executioner....

 

[ryank24]

So the witnesses made their initial statements...then signed sworn affidavits recanting their statements...then recanted their recantation (is that a word?).

Guessing the trial won't go anywhere because of the unreliable witnesses, but he'll still serve some kind of suspension.

 

[Northwest Seahawk]

This is a big reason why they had to trade for Adams. If that trade isn't made they effectively not only didn't add anything on defense in FA this off season it looks like were not resigning Clowney as well .

Pete Carroll had to make a move to help this defense.