Pivotal young NY Giants player facing major charges after arrest

The NY Giants organization received terrible news on Thursday night, as one of the team’s most important young players was arrested on serious charges.

It’s no secret that cornerback Deandre Baker had a tough, up and down rookie season with the  NY Giants. Between his shoddy play – especially early on – and numerous spats of immaturity (sleeping through meetings, not hustling, walking away from reporters), but I don’t think anyone saw this shocking news of a major arrest coming.

According to TMZ Sports, Baker and Seattle Seahawks defensive back Quinton Dunbar were both charged with four charges of armed robbery – while Baker was additionally charged with four counts of aggravated assault – after they turned things ugly at a friendly cookout.

Via TMZ:

"Cops say Baker and Dunbar were allegedly hanging at a cookout — playing cards and video games — when an argument broke out and Baker whipped out a semi-automatic firearm.Cops say the men began to rob party guests … with Dunbar assisting in taking watches and other valuables at the direction of Baker.At one point, cops say Baker directed a 3rd man — who was wearing a red mask — to shoot someone who had just walked into the party … but fortunately, no one was actually shot.Law enforcement says the men made out with more than $7,000 in cash — along with several valuable watches including an $18,000 Rolex watch, a $25,000 Hublot and a pricey Audemars Piguet timepiece."

It’s unclear what caused Baker to snap and begin robbing party guests, but for my money, there is no reason that could be found acceptable — this is despicable behavior.

According to TMZ, this appeared to be a coordinated robbery as there were three getaway cars parked out front ready to roll (all high-end sports cars). Warrants have been issued, and although the two players are still at large a coordinated surrender has reportedly been worked out.

For those keeping score at home, Baker signed a four year/$10.5M contract as the 30th pick in the first round in the 2019 NFL Draft. With him taking in just $1.9M of that on a prorated signing bonus scale, the NY Giants should be able to get out from under $8.6M of his contract by avoiding his guarantees and only paying him for his 2019 work.

So, in essence, Baker risked $8.6M for a cut of about 50K — not the brightest move, to say the least.

The former Georgia star was a punching bag from the fanbase early on as he was abused playing in a system that didn’t seem to suit his strengths, and between a new coaching staff and his play down the stretch, expectations were sky high heading into year two.

At this time, it doesn’t appear that Baker will be playing much football for the NY Giants in 2020, and honestly, his future with the team overall is clouded. He should end up doing jail time if these charges stick.

We all know how Dave Gettleman feels about culture and this is about as bad as it gets culture-wise.

Luckily, the team signed James Bradberry and made a surprised pick of a cornerback in the fourth round of the 2020 NFL Draft, so the team might be able to survive the loss on the field.

We’ll have to wait and see what type of punishment is handed down by NFL Commissioner, Roger Goodell, but you can expect it to be heavy.

Deandre Baker only brought this on himself, and at this moment he’s looking like he’s on the fast track to being an epic bust.