Quinton Dunbar was traded to the Seahawks earlier this year
It was revealed today that Quinton Dunbar is not going to be charged by the police for an alleged incident that took place in May:
Giants cornerback Deandre Baker is being charged with four counts of robbery with a firearm, while Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar is not facing criminal charges in connection with the same incident.
Baker and Dunbar were both accused of robbery in May in their home state of Florida. Today the Broward State Attorney’s office announced that Baker is facing charges that could result in a sentence of 10 years to life in prison. Dunbar, however, was not charged, with the prosecutor citing insufficient evidence.
This is good news to the extent that Dunbar won’t go to jail and could, theoretically, play a full season for the Seahawks this year.
However, there are some other things to consider.
The NFL has its own investigations team and its not unusual for a player to receive a suspension even if they aren’t charged.
For example, a year ago Jarran Reed was handed a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. The suspension stemmed from an incident in 2017 when Reed faced a domestic-violence charge where a woman alleged that he’d assaulted her. He was never charged or arrested in the incident but still received a lengthy suspension.
It’s possible the NFL could pass a similar (or more serious) judgement on Dunbar depending on the outcome of their own investigation.
Currently the NFL are saying they are “monitoring all developments in the matter, which remains under review.”
It’s also worth noting that these things don’t usually get sorted quickly. Reed’s suspension for the 2019 season came nearly two-and-a-half years after the original accusation. Dunbar is already on the exempt list and we’ll see if he is removed shortly while the investigation continues. That would be the best outcome for Seattle because it would allow him to take part in training camp.
However, they could also keep him on the exempt list indefinitely and continue their investigation. If that continues into the season and then he receives a suspension, he could miss a sizeable portion of the schedule.
After all — a year ago Antonio Brown missed most of the year because teams knew as soon as he was signed he would go on the exempt list. It prevented anyone from making a move and kept him out of the league.
The NFL can essentially do as it sees fit.
So while todays news is encouraging for anyone hoping to see Dunbar playing cornerback for the Seahawks in 2020 — there’s still a lot to sort out.
Meanwhile, Adam Caplan is linking the Seahawks to Marcell Dareus — calling him a ‘name to watch’ for Seattle.
Having often been linked with Snacks Harrison (and nothing materialising), Dareus would be an obvious second option.
He was once one of the best defensive tackles in the league and he’s only 30. However, his form tailed off in Jacksonville and it’s worth noting that he’s made $87,134,946 from his football career.
It doesn’t matter who you are — retaining motivation with that in the bank isn’t easy. Especially when you’re having to shift 330lbs around a football field.
If he’s invested in continuing his career and willing to play on a short-term, team-friendly deal — it’s an addition that would make sense. The Seahawks need someone at defensive tackle. Yet with a number of high-profile opt-outs at the position, he might not come as cheap as many would expect.
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Really haven’t watched the tape on Dunbar. What does he do well? What impact would he have on the overall defense might we expect if he is able to play?
Personally, I do like Tre Flowers. Has he been beat a few times, yes. Unneccesary penalties, a few. But he can cover almost as well as Maxwell did and is physical somewhat like Browner. Has a knack for stripping the ball too.
Do some research and you’ll like what you find.
Anticipation, play awareness, closing speed, When he sees something he plants and fires. Dunbar looks like a dog out there. And he wants the ball, he’s not just covering guys and limiting YAC, he’s trying to smother them or take the ball away. He looks really good from what I’ve seen.
I also like Flowers, and think he has some room to grow — it’s a tough position to cut your teeth at in the NFL, but his tough love experience will serve him well. I anticipate he’ll see the field some with or without Dunbar in 2020.
Dunbar was ranked the #2 cornerback in 2019 by PFF. Getting him for a 5th round pick was highway robbery by Seattle.
Interesting news on Dunbar. I hope he suits up in Seattle.
Dareus would be an interesting signing. I’d prefer Snacks over Dareus, but both of them could help at DT. Im hoping the motivation of playing for a playoff team seals the deal for whomever they go after. Sign a DT and Griffen or Matthews (assuming Clowney is out) and I think we’ll be ok.
I’m not sure his disappointing time in Jacksonville can be explained as “guy made lots of money and doesn’t care anymore.”
Jacksonville has one of the more toxic organizations based on what players have been saying for the past few years. It might have been a terrible fit and Dareus chose to protect himself rather than go all out for an org that would use and abuse him.
If the cost is decent, I’d fully support adding the big man at DT.
Eh, kinda hard to take it easy and loaf when you’re playing with Calais Campbell. Weird org or not, CC gonna be all up in your face if you’re loafing.
Plus nobody has signed Dareus yet. If it was just a Jacksonville thing… would he still be a free agent in August? Or is it down to motivation, level of play, financial demands etc?
It’s all speculation, isn’t it? I wish I knew the real reasons. And I’ve never shared a locker room with CC. As far as I know, none of us have, so we don’t know what was said.
Gas tank could be empty, scheme might have been poorly designed to take advantage of his skillset, the same things that pissed off Ramsey and Ngakoue might have affect Dareus but he chose not to let them play out in the media.
The glut of veteran DTs tells me there’s something off in the marketplace and that Dareus might not be an outlier. Jernigan, Daniels, Harrison, Dareus, Mebane all remain unsigned.
My hope is whomever the Seahawks sign is motivated and exceeds expectations.
Sure, it’s all speculation. But it’s also fair to wonder whether a 330lbs human who has made nearly $90m in his career might not fancy slogging his body around a football field any more. Or at least to a level that he used to achieve.
I think we can also explain away most of those DT names:
Jernigan — consistent injuries, was signed but then released due to injuries
Daniels — big personality, clearly not everyone’s cup of tea
Harrison — has publicly considered retirement and touted the idea of opting out
Mebane — he’s 36 in January
I think we should also factor in that many teams are under the impression that Dareus would re-sign in Jacksonville for less after their cap issues were straightened out and then COVID completely changed the landscape of free agency.
Jacksonville officially announced that they wouldn’t pick up his option on Feb 25th. Three weeks later, most of the US was enforcing some form of lockdown that affected the ability to bring in FAs for face to face interviews and physicals.
I’m hoping you’re not taking my comments to mean I think we shouldn’t speculate. Sports radio, magazines, talk shows, websites, etc. would cease to exist if we didn’t speculate. I enjoy the informed back and forth. It’s why I subscribe.
The contract situation wasn’t a factor. He was an obvious cut and once cut, anyone could’ve signed him.
They didn’t and still haven’t despite it being August.
CC won Man of the Year, has been praised by coaches for being a locker room leader, and has spoken openly about calling teammates out for not giving their all.
I don’t need to share a locker room with him to know those things.
If CC couldn’t get Dareus motivated, no one can.
Pete Carroll: Challenge accepted.
That’s all cool but neither of us know anything about Dareus’ mindset and if motivation was a factor. Given the amount of noise that came out of that locker room, I’d expect that there would have been some leaks.
This is from late 2018 but CC and MD both seem to be pumped and supporting each other.
Again, none of us know why Dareus isn’t signed, nor do we know his personal motivators. We can totally agree to disagree. He’s my personal favorite to add at DT so I’m biased.
I don’t think anyone’s claimed to know about his situation.
It is OK to discuss why he had a rough time in Jacksonville though (and why he’s also still a FA).
Again, I’m not saying it isn’t fair to speculate or that we shouldn’t discuss it. I’m pointing out that it’s speculation and that none of us are as connected as we need to be to have an fully informed take. That’s not a challenge or attempt to shut down dialogue. It’s a long-time follower of the site and subscriber respectfully providing a different point of view.
But why are you pointing that out?
‘This might be the reason why he’s unsigned’
‘Well that’s just speculation’
If we can only discuss anything with cast iron facts otherwise you’ll challenge everything as ‘speculation’ — yes that will stifle conversations on here.
At least one person claims to know.
“I don’t need to share a locker room with him to know those things.”
To know that Calais is a great leader and wouldn’t take any crap.
Cha is allowed to say that without you policing the discussion.
I have been seeing a lot of comparisons to Dunbar‘s case to that of Reed.. And I understand why. However, something to consider is that with Jarran Reed is that he was the only suspect and there was no charges filed. That means that the witness or witnesses would have been available to talk to the NFL. In this situation though, there is still a very serious felony trial looming for Baker. That means those witnesses will not be available for the NFL to interview and flush out what they think reasonably happened. Which leaves a very interesting question as what to do with Dunbar. He may not be charged but he has already been implicated in the court of public opinion and more importantly in the NFL’s opinion. For the NFL to contact investigation similar as they have done in the past there with me to see bakers case resolved. This could take a while under normal circumstances and even longer due to the coronavirus. It will be very interesting to see how they resolve Dunbar.It would seem initially that the most fair thing to do would be to take him off the commissioners list and let him play and then assign any suspension after they have had a chance to conduct their investigation. And that way it would’ve been similar to Reed
The league can do whatever it wants and will no doubt have a reason for whichever way it acts. We just have to wait and see.
Well, we can say that about anything. (I mean, this particular website takes great pride in analyzing past behaviors of the Hawks to try to predict the future. Earlier this year they said they would keep continuity offense of line and they pass rusher priority.- so much for patterns. ) I’m not saying what the league will do. And you are absolutely right, the league can and will do anything they want and they don’t really have to explain it to anyone.
I’m only trying to assess based on past cases. It appears that the league interviewed numerous witnesses in the Ezekiel Elliott case as they likely did with Reed and others. If they want to do a similar investigation, it appears they would have to wait. Past that, all They can do is interview Dunbar and glean what they can from public affidavits issued by the courts. It would probably be easier if they hadn’t already taken the step of putting him on the commissioners list. It seems the league is loathe to walk back these types of actions without a resolution.
I don’t really see why you’ve felt the need to compare the leagues disciplinary process with us using past history to project what the Seahawks might do in a draft. The two things are completely different to be fair and it’s impossible to know what the league will do on a case by case basis. We have no idea what their investigation has uncovered or will uncover. I can look on wikipedia to see what the Seahawks did in a given draft.
The league ‘waiting’ might mean keeping him on the exempt list. We just don’t know what they know or what they’ll decide. There’s little point trying to second guess it. We just need to wait and see.
I didn’t really think that anything I said had been so provocative. Trying to predict future results based on past behavior. All I was trying to do was say in relation to the comparison with Reeds case that there are different factors at play. In this situation, there is a second player involved faces full criminal felony trial. In theory, this would likely reduce the NFL’s access to witnesses and other information that would help them make their decision. As I said, due to the pandemic legal cases are getting pushed farther and farther back.
This was my only point. Of course the legal do what it wants to do. I was just trying to discuss an additional wrinkle. I really hope that the tone of my post didn’t sound argumentative. This is by far And away my favorite site and you are by far and away my favorite writer.
No issues at all. Just replying to the post. Let’s just wait and see what happens with Dunbar now and hope for the best.
Man, I’ve got to stop posting from my iPhone. The AutoCorrect makes me look like English is my second language. Sorry about that.
Me forgive you.
Meanwhile, bringing in a quality run stopping DT is a top priority. If you can’t get the pass rush that you want, work on making the rest of the defense better. LB’s and DB’s seem like a strength, pretty much. Adding a quality DT feels more important than adding another one or two pass rushers not named Clowney. After all, there is only room for so many pass rushers on a 53 man roster.
Yes but they seemingly had good cause to put him on the exempt list. So there’s a factor that none of us know – what exactly the NFL has discovered. Which means we the ins and outs of the NFL’s investigation are completely unknown.
Which means there isn’t a really definable way to know what the league will do or how this will unfold. So it’s fairly pointless to try an untangle it and figure out how soon Dunbar will be in a position to play again.
You are right. It is pointless to try to figure it out. We are not in the deciding process. But isn’t that what we do in sports? All the debating and the scouting and pontificating?At the end of the day we have no say or control any of it. But that doesn’t mean it’s not fun to debate about players and other scenarios because were interested and fans.
I was only trying to comment based on what we’ve seen in the past. It kind of reminds me of a debate I got into it with one of the fieldgullswriters. He kept trying to tell me about how M. Kendricks was looking at a long prison sentence. Having a knowledge of the federal system and have a plea agreement works, I tried to explain to him why it wasn’t as bad as he were making it seem. He had to research the periphery of the sentencing guidelines but he had no clue as to how much prosecutorial discretion is involved these types of cases.
In the end, who knows what they’ll do.Just trying to make sense of it based on the knowledge we do have.
What if the NFL cannot speak to Dunbar because he agreed to be a witness at Bakers trail and that is why his charges are dropped?
A very real possibility
Precisely. The man could be in danger. This is one of those “bigger than football” situations.
Very fair points.
Wonder if he puts out a message like AB to just give him a ruling already. Even if he got the same sentence as Reed he would create welcome depth at corner for the back half of the season and playoffs. Dareus needs a change of scenery. Jacksonville has been a wreck since they lost to the steelers in the playoffs a few years ago. He din’t play a full season last year but was pretty good the year before. Hopefully they can get him for cheap.
I don’t that would have much impact. The league took their merry time with AB and it took almost a year to sort through.
He/we are just going to have to sit tight and wait and see what happens.
Hard to believe he would be motivated to do that. Trying to pressure the NFL I don’t think it’s a good idea anyway. Especially if you’re looking for them to help you out on something like this.
It’s good to be cautious on the optimism until it gets sorted. Does feel unlikely that he’d get a full season suspension when the case was dropped due to insufficient evidence.
personally, I think Dunbar coming over is a pretty big deal – if we still have tre flowers out there as the starter – then teams will still have a place to go every time they need an important conversion. Flowers just hasn’t shown the ability to stay close enough to WR’s to disrupt those plays.
good stat pull on Dareus . . . $87M . . . man, that’s a ton of dough . . .
Derrius Guice cut by Washington.
It follows a domestic violence incident.
People may not recall but the only other time this place has got ‘heated’ was when I voiced concerns about Guice’s character.
I thought he had a double whammi….
1. Character concerns
2. Injury Concerns
…. coming out of CFB???
Who would have thought Washington would be this decisive….. turning a new leaf perhaps?
I think Mebane is the “safer” choice at DT because as a former Hawk the effort will be there I do believe. Dareus and Snacks are more of a question. Only question for me is how much he has left in the tank.
‘Bane is a big guy, and he has a lotta loyalty for a hired gun. If going out with a bang is the next step of his master plan, signing him for his last season would be like grabbing a prize. Get ’em on board!
I’ll call my shot on the commissioner Russian Roulette of possible punishment…..
Dunbar will get 2 game suspended. Because the commissioner said so!
I would be interested in Marcel Dareus. Perfect run stuffer. If the Hawks could lockdown Dareus and Everson Griffen I would take that in a New York second. As far as Dunbar is concerned I am guessing 4 game suspension. But I am hoping for the best. Adding Dareus, Griffin and Dunbar would be a trifecta. Hoping for the best.
Signing either Darius/Mebane AND either Griffin/Matthews could greatly alter this upcoming season.
As bad as the DL is… and it’s terrible right NOW… these 1-year deals could work out well, thanks to Pete motivating guys and the culture he’s established.
But, make no mistake, the only reason this is all possible is because of an NFL Draft 8 years ago.
Is there a way the following could contact me for the Kenny Easley autobiography I am writing?
Ukhawk
Jim Kelly
Bertelli
Doug M
We have finished the first 14 chapters. I am looking to quote others in the final chapter. The four of you said things I think may be great to add. If you are interested in being part of his autobiography, please comment below and we’ll connect. Thank you.
Or if any of you have a great Kenny Easley memory – please comment below and I will let you know if I’d like to know more. Please know I would need your first/last name and city/state in which you reside for the project. Thank you all for reading. And thanks to Rob for allowing me to ask on this forum.
Wow, 14 chapters – well done!!
Not sure if I’m worthy of a quote but I can certainly tell you about my favorite player and football hero as a then 12-year old growing up in Washington.
Would be truly honoured, Bobby K !
I will pin this request at the top of the next article in case anyone misses it.
My favorite Seahawk of all time. I remember just zeroing in on Easley on defense and wherever he went the ball seemed to follow. He was always in play. Look forward to your book Bobby .
*fist bump* That is some good stuff right there.
Are there any other Seahawks looking to do a book that you might do?
Bobbyk, haven’t been able to add to the conversation lately, but I wanted to ask you about An Open Letter to Kenny Easley by Steve Kelley, printed by the Seattle Times during the decade plus Easley was suing the Seahawks. At one point it was available online in the archives, but then nearly all mention of it was scrubbed from the internet (in my opinion by P. Allen and company)
1) I’m dying to know if Easley saw this when it was printed, and how he felt about it, and
2) if you read it and your reaction to it.
Thank you for all your hard work to get Easley into the HOF, and best wishes with your book!
My email is full of spam anyhow, its leshthomas@hotmail.com if you want to reply.
Yes, nice job. I’m willing to help any way I can! Nice to know somebody read my post Thanks!
I’m in for whatever is needed.
Critiquing the Hawks offseason was (and of course still is) totally legit especially early on, but it feels like a plan is starting to come together on D. Build an elite secondary (Dunbar even at 10 games would be huge) because it was likely impossible to build an elite Dline by over paying Fowler, Quinn, Clowney, etc even if you signed those guys (and if they did (were Cowboys an elite D with Quinn/Lawrence?) we would have cap issues next year which could start closing another window). Go value/volume both in free agency and the draft on the DL and get faster/quicker. Add guys not on the DL who are good blitzers. Stop the run, so instead of 3rd and 5s maybe we have more 3rd and 8s thereby improving the pass rush and allowing the secondary to get more picks. The pieces fit so much better together than the past two years. I think we have top 10 defense potential.
They said the priority was fixing the pass rush, that it had to be fixed.
You can’t now argue that they suddenly decided that the reasonable cost of Calais, Fowler, Quinn etc or the pursuit of Clowney was determined to be too rich. They went after Clowney, misjudged his willingness to hold out, were left waiting on him and then tried to address the situation with Mayowa etc while still keeping enough cap space in case the situation changed. They put all their eggs in the Clowney basket and are still hanging on for him now it seems.
Now, with weeks to go, they’ve traded for Jamal Adams. Perhaps in acknowledgement and desperation of knowing they’d not made any improvements to the defense and with Dunbar’s availability up in the air.
It is what it is. We don’t need to try and make out like this has been some great choreographed plan. We just have to hope the DL doesn’t prove to be the downfall of the 2020 Seahawks.
And you can’t have a top-10 defense with the worst DL in the league.
This wasn’t a beautiful choreographed offseason for sure. And yes, they did put all their eggs in one basket and misjudged Clowney’s desire to come back. So did Clowney by misjudging his own value and the market. The two screwed up each other. I was hoping to try harder for CC (but at the time I thought you mentioned he had his own preferred destination which wasn’t the Hawks) and Fowler.
Having said all that, I think we’ll end up in a good place. I suspect Dunbar Will get a shorter punishment than Reed due to the COVID situation and so many players opting out. Would RG ban a player who hasn’t been charged harshly now? This would give us a Legion of Zoom worthy of comparison with the LOB. If we sign Griffen and a DT like Snacks I think this D will be pretty decent. Plus a very good offense we would close the gap with the Niners and the rest of the top teams in the NFC. Plenty to get excited about in spite of a stumbling, bumbling (quoting Chris Berman) beginning.
About as clear and concise as it gets.
It really is just a consumed rum with Clowney. Given that they drafted two guys they like, picked up some rotational pass rush, and re-signed Reed, signing Clowney to a market-value deal really was the best scenario for us. And why not? Why bid against ourselves? Why wouldn’t he return here for the best offer? His stubbornness has been the x-factor, though you’ve been right in saying he has every right not to play for less (I certainly can’t fathom why he isn’t worth more on the open market).
Aside from Clowney, though, really only Calais Campbell moved the needle so much — and the Ravens has to commit a lot of money to him at an advanced age. Still, given our predicament it looks like a slam dunk decision to pull the trigger there. Could be the Seahawks passed on that opportunity — and every other — believing all along they’d win this slow dance with Clowney. Or maybe you were right and Campbell wanted to go to Baltimore in any case.
As long as Griffen remains unsigned we have a reasonable backup plan, but how long can that continue? I really wish the Seahawks would simply make a compromise in a long term deal and push this over the finish line.
Haha, ok, by “consumed rum” I mean “conundrum.”
Good idea, though…
The autocorrect giveth and the autocorrect taketh… 😁
MEDICAL SPECULATION ALERT: I wonder if a 330lb human being should be more concerned about COVID than other players. I know that heavier people seem to be more affected by COVID. If so, then Dareus may not want to F around given all the money he’s already made. Same for Snacks and Mebane. Just a thought.
Source: Panthers’ Russell Okung mulling retirement over coronavirus concern
I hope no one would disparage Okung if he did indeed retire. He just over came a very serious medical problem in 2019…. and deserves to be able to have a comfortable after NFL life. He has a hell of a career, starting in Seattle… then Denver and San Diego/LA.
It was a very serious problem and I wouldn’t blame him one bit. He is definitely high risk.
The NFL is removing #Seahawks CB Quinton Dunbar from the exempt list, clearing him to join the team as soon as tomorrow, source said.
Dunbar better be on the field tomorrow…
Hopefully it works out like Reed’s suspension and it happens after this year.
Pretty quick turnabout on taking him off the Commissioner’s list given Goodell’s history as judge, jury and executioner. This could be a precursor to how things will operate under the new CBA with Goodell not having as much oversight on off field matters.
I don’t understand why the Seahawks were willing to trade the farm for Jamal Adams, but are sticking to their price for Clowney.Is it strictly financial, or do they just think Adams is a better player?
Well it’s financial.
At the start of free agency they made an offer which might’ve been the best one. Offering more is just bidding against themselves. They also probably felt, given some time, he would accept it. He chose not to.
And now, they don’t have the money they had back then.