The Washington Redskins should have avoided Junior Galette like the plague, but instead, the organization proved once again that the NFL welcomes (alleged) violent offenders.
Galette’s agent Alvin Keels announced his client signed a one-year deal with Washington, and Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports the deal is for the league minimum.
Junior Galette will sign a 1 year deal with the Washington Redskins today. Junior is grateful for the second chance he is being afforded
— Alvin Keels (@AlvinKeels) July 31, 2015
The #Skins will make Junior Galette earn it. They’ll pay him the minimum this year with the right of first refusal next year.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) July 31, 2015
Rapoport also added that Washington “love the character in their defensive meeting room. They believe they can bring in a player with questions & keep it together.”
How many times have we heard this same old story?
Every team says the same thing. They all have the “structure in place” to help these guys stay in line, but all too often the problems remain.
Remember, Galette was accused of domestic violence in January of this year, but charges were dropped in February. Crazy enough, the New Orleans Saints reworked his contract a month later, even though head coach Sean Payton wanted to cut him following the domestic violence accusation, converting $12.5 million of his salary into a “signing bonus.”
It didn’t take long for that move to sting the Saints as worse news surfaced a few months later.
Galette is believed to have been involved in a brutal attack on “multiple people, including a woman” in a beach brawl back in 2013, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported back in late June when video of the incident surfaced.
WARNING: The video contains disturbing images and profane language.
In addition to this alleged incident, he’s thought to have launched a horrific tirade of various putrid forms against the Saints last week. He allegedly used his girlfriend’s Twitter account and said, among other things, that Payton showed up to meetings drunk and that former teammate Zach Strief’s struggles last year were due to his wife’s infidelity.
Of course, since that time Galette has fervently denied having any part of the belligerent rant, but it’s hard to believe he’s telling the truth, given some of the specific things that were spewed.
Not surprisingly, rumors have since come out that he was a cancer in the locker room for the Saints.
But Galette can ball.
He has a knack for rushing the passer, which is priority No. 1 for NFL defenses these days. Greg Hardy has the same knack, which is why the Dallas Cowboys signed him this spring, despite his heinous crimes of the same violent nature.
So Washington, which needs pass-rushers, is going to completely ignore Galette’s rap sheet because he can sack quarterbacks.
The team will play it off as a win—a low-risk signing (because of the low salary) that won’t hurt the team if Galette does get into trouble again.
But it’s not a win.
It’s a huge mistake, and it’s one NFL teams continue to make.
The message being sent to these violent offenders is loud, it’s clear, and it’s unacceptable: If you can make plays on the field, then we’ll keep signing you to contracts, regardless of your off-field sins.
It’s despicable that these men, who don’t have any qualms about (allegedly) hitting women, will be cheered loudly on Sundays when the opposing quarterback goes down.
Make it stop.
Photo Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports