In January, Rasheed Walker was arrested at LaGuardia Airport after he attempted to envision an unloaded handgun without the obligatory paperwork. That resulted in charges on two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon together with criminal possession of a firearm.
After Walker was released on his own recognizance, a court date was set for March 19. A pretrial diversion program on this case has been offered and accepted, Joe Person of The Athletic writes. Because of this, Walker’s charges might be cleared provided he avoids any further arrests in the subsequent six months.
On the time of his arrest, the 26-year-old was unaware of the actual fact he couldn’t travel together with his firearm – which is registered in Wisconsin – to Recent York without the required credentials for inspection on the airport. Walker’s agent declined to comment on the most recent development within the case, one which is able to eliminate the potential of any potential league discipline stemming from the unique arrest. League spokesman Brian McCarthy also declined to comment on the matter.
Despite his age and experience on the blindside (48 starts), Walker’s free agent market didn’t develop as planned. The previous Packer took a one-year Panthers contract with a base value of $4MM. Incentives can push the deal’s maximum value to $10MM, and playing time early within the season is probably going with incumbent left tackle Ikem Ekwonu continuing a lengthy recovery from knee surgery.
When talking to the media earlier this week, Panthers general manager Dan Morgan noted the team did its homework on Walker’s arrest before signing him. That suggested no league discipline could be forthcoming, and this latest update thus comes as no surprise. Barring any further legal issues, Walker will give you the option to completely focus his attention on training camp prematurely of his debut Carolina season.