While the NFL world this week learned Cardinals second-round rookie Christian Kirk was arrested for disorderly conduct and property damage in February, prosecutors may not have a strong case against the former Texas A&M wideout. The main witness cited by police was lying on a bench and not watching while a van window was allegedly broken by Kirk and his friends, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. That same witness claims he saw Kirk and a friend throwing rocks at other cars, but no damage was reported on any other vehicle. The case against Kirk is still pending, but Arizona knew about the arrest before making him the 47th overall pick in the draft. It’s unlikely Kirk ever faces any legal ramifications from the incident, while the league has avoided suspending players involved in pre-NFL off-field trouble.
Here’s more from around the league:
- Tyrann Mathieu was famously versatile during five seasons with the Cardinals, but the Texans — Mathieu’s new football home — have a more fixed set of objectives for the Honey Badger, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle writes. “We talked about that when we were speaking to him during the process,” said Texans head coach Bill O’Brien. “We told him that we really do value – as you know – we value versatility, but we also understand that a guy needs to have basically one home. He needs to understand and master that one home, which is safety for Tyrann. Then, in different packages that are played less of the time, maybe he does something else.” Mathieu inked a one-year, $7MM deal with Houston earlier this year, and that figure has surprisingly stood as the highest annual value for any non-franchised free agent safety contract this offseason.
- Free agent quarterback Cody Keith is working out for the Colts on Wednesday, and previously auditioned for the Chargers and Rams, per Rapoport (Twitter link). A former four-star recruit, Keith was limited by injuries during his collegiate career at East Carolina, and was only attempted just 11 passes before moving to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Since that time, Keith has spent time in the Canadian Football League and in the Spring League, working on Johnny Manziel‘s team in the latter venture.
- The Redskins announced that they’ve hired Brian Lafemina as their new president of business operations and chief operating officer. While the hiring doesn’t involve football operations on its face, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk speculates that Lafemina’s addition could be a precursor the Washington parting ways with much-maligned team president Bruce Allen. However, the Redskins’ press release states Allen will continue in his current role, while John Keim of ESPN.com hears Twitter link) Lafemina will focus mainly on stadium development.
- Speaking of business operations, new Panthers owner David Tepper may look to hire former Browns president and CFO Mike Keenan, tweets Rapoport. Keenan, who was team president in Cleveland from 2008-10, has recently worked in consulting, per Rapoport, and working with clubs in multiple sports. While Tepper may make changes on the business end once he takes over in Carolina, he’s not expected to revamp the Panthers’ football staff.