BREAKING: DeAndre Baker placed on commissioner’s exempt list

What does being placed on this exempt list actually mean for DeAndre Baker?

To make a long story short, DeAndre Baker being placed on the commissioner’s exempt list is in effect basically paid leave.

He’ll still be paid his entire salary but will not count against the 55-man active roster count.

Here’s a summary of what the being on the list actually entails via Profootballtalk.com.

"“The Exempt List is a special player status available to clubs only in unusual circumstances,” NFL.com points out, citing the league’s manual. “The List includes those players who have been declared by the Commissioner to be temporarily exempt from counting within the Active List limit. Only the Commissioner has the authority to place a player on the Exempt List; clubs have no such authority, and no exemption, regardless of circumstances, is automatic. “The Commissioner also has the authority to determine in advance whether a player’s time on the Exempt List will be finite or will continue until the Commissioner deems the exemption should be lifted and the player returned to the Active List.”"

In other words, DeAndre Baker’s NFL career lays solely in the hands of Roger Goodell from this point forward.

Even if some new evidence came out that appeared to vindicate Baker before his impending court case, it’s almost guaranteed he’d still stay on the list until his court case came to an end in his favor which seems like a longshot at best.

The NY Giants chose to stand by their former first-round draft pick (that they gave up multiple other picks to move up for) until his court case came to an end which is completely understandable.

What is not understandable – or acceptable – is that they did not get out in front of this situation in a real way or make any sort of meaningful statement on the matter, even after having the ‘luxury’ of having a similar situation play out in 2016 with kicker Josh Brown.

For an organization that beats the ‘culture’ drum, the fact that they were really going to try to attempt to let him play is a terrible look.