Steve Keim became the rare GM to be suspended when the team announced his punishment for his “severe DUI” arrest from earlier this month. Speaking to the media, team president Michael Bidwill shined a light on how the team will proceed with out Keim, who is banned for the next five weeks and not allowed to have any contact with the team. Although the suspension was announced as five weeks, along with a $200k fine, “Bidwill made it clear that Keim won’t return that soon unless he meets other requirements, including counseling” according to Kent Somers of the Arizona Republic.
Bidwill was highly critical of Keim’s actions, saying flatly “there is no excuse to drink and drive.” Despite his harsh words, Bidwill indicated the team is still Keim’s to run when he returns and that they will be operating under his vision during his absence. While he conceded that training camp is “obviously not a great time to not have your general manager”, Bidwill insisted there won’t be any “drop-off here with his absence.” He said the team’s recent signing of safety Tre Boston, along with their other recent moves, were all made with the belief that they’re what Keim would’ve wanted.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Free agent cornerback Bashaud Breeland visited the Colts recently, but the team is unlikely to sign him according to Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star (Twitter link). Holder says there’s “no indication that Bashaud Breeland will land in Indianapolis” and that his “sense is they’ll stand pat with the group of corners they have”, adding he’d be “surprised” if the team ends up bringing in Breeland.
- Injured rookie cornerback Sam Beal will not be able to return this season notes Ryan Dunleavy of NJ.com. If the Giants had wanted to have Beal eligible for one of their IR/return slots, they would’ve needed to wait until their roster was down to 53-men to place him on inured reserve. The third round supplemental draft pick will redshirt his rookie year and look to return strong in 2019.
- Browns coach Hue Jackson acknowledged that number one overall pick Baker Mayfield has “exceeded expectations” so far in camp, according to Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com. Kay Cabot notes that Mayfield “has yet to throw a pick in camp.” Jackson has insisted all along that Tyrod Taylor will be his starter, but it sounds like Mayfield could be pushing for the job sooner rather than later.
Please let Tyrod start this whole season.
Agreed.
yes
Really? I expected Hue to say that Mayfield was lousy and they were disappointed in his progress.
Right. Totally irrelevant part of this post. Every rookie QB according to there coaches r “ahead of schedule and better then anticipated”. More importantly is Beal getting redshirted for the year. He wasn’t physically ready for the league. Probably y he was going to go back to school before whatever it was that caused him to enter the supplemental draft
Hue won’t play that card just yet, but by mid season when the Browns are 0-8 and there is talk of him being fired, he will be looking for a fall guy to blame for his own ineptitude. Mayfield could be the likely candidate.
Nothing but reporting on the obvious.
Bidwill was highly critical of Keim’s actions, saying flatly “there is no excuse to drink and drive.”
I’m just wondering how long after making this comment, Bidwill could be found in his office counting the profit from alcohol sales at the stadium.
So true.