It’s been a rough past few months for the Arizona Cardinals and arrests.
First, the news dropped of Robert Nkemdiche’s traffic-related police arrests.
Now, another Cardinal finds themself in the news as the result of another serious offense, according to TMZ:
NFL'S Darius Philon Arrested For Aggravated Assault with Deadly Weapon https://t.co/PPYpuVpqDX
— TMZ (@TMZ) August 10, 2019
Philon’s incident occurred in May outside of a Gentleman’s club in Los Angeles, per the report. He has been booked into the Maricopa County Jail system and TMZ’s reporting has a bit more on the specifics:
AZ Cardinals DE Darius Philon was arrested today in Phoenix for aggravated assault w/ a deadly weapon. Allegedly pointed handgun at dancer in strip club parking lot on May 17 and asked “which one of you wants a bullet?” Philon is still in jail.
— michael j. babcock (@mikejbabcock) August 10, 2019
The 25-year old Philon had no previous legal-related incidents of note, and had 8.5 sacks with the Chargers after being selected in the 2015 NFL Draft.
This past offseason Philon signed a two-year, $10 million deal with the Cardinals with $5 million guaranteed and a $4 million signing bonus. If released, he would cost the Cardinals $3 million on their salary cap and $2 million of dead money would go onto the books for 2020.
He started at Defensive End for the Cardinals in their first preseason game this past Thursday.
#12Sports can confirm Philon was arrested Friday morning for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He has an 8AM court appearance tomorrow.
— Cameron Cox (@CamCox12) August 10, 2019
While the circumstances might not be physically aggravating as Desmond Harrison’s reportedly was, it’s still obviously a very serious event and still qualifies as assault.
Given the previous standard that was set by Desmond Harrison’s quick release, it will be interesting to see how Arizona handles the situation given that unlike Harrison, he was making a great deal more and was a starter signed to a multi-year deal.
My best guess is that...$3 million isn’t enough to keep him on the roster or to go through with the rest of the long procedural issues that taking him back onto the team will cost especially with other players able to step up. (It’s not like he’s close to Daryl Washington as far as a talent level). But it will be interesting to see.
It’s also unfortunate because by all accounts, Philon was seeming to fill an integral piece for the Cardinals defense thus far.
Self-motivated with high energy, this #AZCardinals free agent signing is striving for excellence.
— 98.7 Arizona Sports (@AZSports) August 5, 2019
More on Darius Philon from @KZimmermanAZ: https://t.co/4yZ95Haifj
And even more interesting will be how this reflects on the team & GM Steve Keim as a whole.
Even though Philon had no previous incidents, when a large number of them pile up it certainly doesn’t look good...to say the least.