A Florida judge granted New York Giants cornerback DeAndre Baker permission to travel for work purposes following his arrest on armed robbery and aggravated assault charges.
Baker turned himself into police on May 16 after a warrant was issued for him. He posted a $200,000 bond the following day and was released. In all, he faces eight counts stemming from an alleged criminal incident at a gathering in Miramar, Fla.
The order on Wednesday from Judge Mariya Weekes in Broward County, Fla., means that Baker can join the Giants at their training facility in New Jersey, provided the team invites him. In the wake of his arrest, the team told the second-year cornerback not to take part in the ongoing virtual team meetings to focus instead on his legal issues.
Weekes’ order said Baker, 22, must tell a pretrial officer where he will be living while out of state, the dates he intends to leave the state and return, and provide a detailed itinerary of his planned activities while outside of Florida.
Also arrested in the case was Seattle Seahawks cornerback Quinton Dunbar, but the status of his ability to leave Florida was unclear on Wednesday.
The Giants have not announced their plans for minicamps or training camps. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy gave the go-ahead on Tuesday for teams to reopen their training facilities, which had been closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“With today’s announcement by the governor, we are finalizing our plans to reopen the Quest Diagnostics Training Center,” the Giants said in statement on Tuesday. “We will continue to have as many employees as possible working remotely. For employees who need to return to work at our facility, we expect to begin that process next week, and we will do so in a systematic and safe way that adheres to the state’s guidelines and NFL protocols.”
Baker was drafted by the Giants in the first round (30th overall) out of Georgia in 2019. He had 61 tackles, two tackles for loss and eight pass defenses in 16 games (15 starts) as a rookie.
