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The Arizona Cardinals have effectively dropped the hammer on their General Manager.
Steve Keim, after pleading guilty to an extreme DUI in Chandler, will not only face a fine and possible jail time, he now will spend the next five weeks cooling his heels like the Arizona Cardinals try and get ready for the 2018 season.
That means, no “Keim Time” signings.
No negotiations with David Johnson and his reps before his due date to camp.
No, instead, Keim will be watching until nearly game one of the season, with no contact with the team.
The team released their punishment and a statement regarding their decision:
The Cardinals have suspended General Manager Steve Keim five weeks and fined him $200,000, after Keim pleaded guilty Tuesday in Chandler to extreme DUI following his arrest July 4.
The fine money will be donated to the Arizona chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
During his suspension, effective immediately, Keim will be barred from the Cardinals’ facilities and prohibited contact from the team. He will also not be allowed to return to the team until after he has completed counseling and evaluation, in addition to a DUI education course. Keim will also take part in DUI awareness and education programs within the community.
Keim continues to be contrite as he said this through the team:
“Once again, I apologize to everyone who has been negatively impacted by my actions and incredibly poor judgment, in particular the Cardinals, our fans and my family,” Keim said in a statement released by the team. “I fully deserve and accept the punishment that has been issued. My goal is to do everything I can to grow from this personally and help others learn from my inexcusable behavior.”
If the five weeks are started from today, that means Keim will be eligible to come back, if he completes his necessary programs, on August 21, 2018.
That would give the Cardinals roughly 19 days to get things back to normal over that timeframe.
It is convenient that the NFL now allows cuts to be made on September 1st as well, as Keim won’t have to miss any cutdown days, unless the Cardinals want to make some obvious moves prior to the date.
The Cardinals wasted little time in announcing Keim’s punishment and also let it be known that it will be a complete group effort from the personnel department to replace him.