Quinton Dunbar placed on Exempt List while facing charges

Quinton Dunbar, the Seahawks offseason cornerback acquisition, has been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List while he faces charges of armed robbery.

Two days after the Seahawks announced some really happy news with the acquisition of First-Team All-Pro safety Jamal Adams, 12s learned on Monday that another offseason acquisition in the defensive backfield, Quinton Dunbar, has been placed on the Commissioner’s Exempt List due to charges from an alleged armed robbery Dunbar may or may not have been involved with in May.

What this means is that Quinton Dunbar will still get paid by the Seahawks while waiting to see what his fate will be as far as the charges. Due to COVID-19 court systems are backed up so it might be some time before we know if the charges against Dunbar will even go to trial.

What this also means is that Tre Flowers, who has started for Seattle at the cornerback spot opposite Shaquill Griffin the last two years, is once again the presumptive starter for 2020. Flowers was promising in his rookie season of 2018 but seemed to falter at the end of 2019. Hence, Seattle’s want to add Dunbar.

Exactly how the NFL words the exempt list is as follows

"The Exempt List is a special player status available to clubs only in unusual circumstances. 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."

Even if Dunbar’s case doesn’t ever go to trial, Dunbar could still face suspension from the NFL for an indefinite amount of time. This happened to the Seahawks Jarran Reed last year when he was suspended for the first six games of the year but never faced jail time for an alleged infraction from a few years before.

Thankfully, even if Quinton Dunbar cannot play, the Seahawks have a talented secondary with the addition of Adams. Shaquill Griffin is one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL and Quandre Diggs is a good free safety.