The Seahawks acquired Quinton Dunbar in an exchange with Washington this offseason. (Getty)
Quinton Dunbar’s story took a strange turn late last week when it was alleged that Seahawks cornerback attorney Michael Grieco paid some of the alleged victims in the Dunbar robbery case to recant their stories.
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According to court documents, there is visual evidence of an alleged payment of $ 55,000 at Grieco’s office a couple of days after the incident. Grieco resigned as Dunbar’s lawyer on Monday.
Dunbar faces four assault charges. What does that mean in regards to the chances of him playing this year for the Seahawks, or the state of New York Giants cornerback Deandre Baker, who has eight counts of armed robbery against him for the same alleged incident. ? I am completely lost trying to solve it.
In a normal year, you would think that the NFL would put both players on the exempt list for a certain period of time. That can happen. But this is not a normal year due to the COVID-19 virus.
The problem with solving this is that this case could take years to resolve. That’s right, years. On Tuesday, I interviewed David Ovalle, who is covering this case for the Miami Herald, and made a surprising revelation about Miami and Dade County, Florida, which is an epicenter of the virus. Ovalle said the area has not had a court case since March and that he would be surprised if the area has a court case the rest of the year. With the courts so backed, he thinks it could take until 2021 or 2022 for this case to go to court.
Ovalle said that once the courts are opened, this assault case would not be at the top of the list to be heard because there will be many other murder related cases that will take precedence.
It is not about whether this case goes to court, but rather when. So if the NFL suspends Dunbar and Baker, it would have to be an indefinite suspension that could take a couple of years.
There are rumors in New York that the Giants are considering cutting Baker, a first-round option in 2019. Ironically, Baker became a Giant thanks to the Seahawks. The Giants switched to the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft, giving the Seahawks a second-round pick along with a fourth round and a fifth round to switch.
For the Seahawks, Dunbar was an incredible bonus and probably the best player they acquired this offseason. Washington was given a fifth pound pick to acquire a man-to-man cornerback who was ranked second in the league by Pro Football Focus.
Dunbar’s coverage ability would help this team get more men’s coverage again. Due to a lack of a fast pass last year, the Seahawks were more of a zone team. The Dunbar, Shaquill Griffin and Tre Flowers trio would be quite strong as a cornerback.
The charges against Dunbar and Baker are serious, but Ovalle also said there are thousands of people in jail awaiting trial. As serious as these charges are, they were allowed to post bail and be alone. Baker is allowed to fly from Florida to go to camp. Dunbar requested that option last week.
If the league or Seahawks decide that Dunbar shouldn’t be allowed to play, what’s interesting is that Baker’s trade with the Giants will allow them to survive. Through general manager John Schneider’s commercial maneuvers, the Seahawks were able to recruit Marquise Blair and Ugo Amadi thanks to the deal that allowed New York to select Baker. Amadi is competing for slot machine work. Blair could have a chance to play the slot along with trying to enter the field as an initial security.
In this country, a person is innocent until proven guilty. But for Dunbar’s name to be erased, it will take years unless he accepts a guilty plea.
Follow John Clayton of 710 ESPN Seattle on Twitter.
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