Cardinals President Rips 'Unapologetic' Michael Floyd Over Handling Of DUI Aftermath
BOSTON (CBS) -- Michael Floyd arrived in New England amid a cloud of controversy, as the Patriots' surprising claim of the receiver off waivers came just days after he had been arrested for DUI. Floyd's legal troubles led the Arizona Cardinals to cut the receiver, who went from a team that was 5-7-1 at the time to a team that was 11-2.
Now, Floyd is part of the AFC East champion Patriots and has a chance to contribute as a valuable depth piece at wide receiver down the stretch. But it doesn't sound like Cardinals president Michael Bidwill is going to miss him.
Bidwill spoke with Arizona Sports 98.7 FM during the Cardinals' pre-game show on Sunday and was not subtle in his criticism of Floyd and how the receiver handled his situation in the aftermath of his DUI arrest. Bidwill said that the team found out about it through the media and not through Floyd, whom he believes had a chance to handle the situation better.
"Their story changed, there was no remorse, we ask [Floyd] to be proactive in terms of his approach to this — [he was] unapologetic," Bidwill said. "I was not satisfied with how he handled it.
"He certainly could've played it a lot differently. We wanted to give him an opportunity to address his issues. How this whole set of circumstances [unfolded], I was just disappointed about how it played out."
Around the same time on Sunday, Patriots president Jonathan Kraft joined Marc Bertrand and Chris Gasper for his weekly appearance on the Patriots pre-game show and was asked about the signing of Floyd. He intimated that Bill Belichick believes Floyd's potential to be valuable for the football team will outweigh whatever off-field issues he may have for the foreseeable future.
"I think before Bill brings in any player, there's a lot of things that you factor in. And certainly at this late in the season, there are a ton of variables that get factored in. This was a unique one because you don't see somebody get cut this late in the season who has the type of ability that he does, but he's also at the end of a contract, as well. ... Those are some of the things that get thought about. I think any time that Bill thinks about bringing somebody into the organization, he really does measure whether there's going to be an advantage to our football team or not. In this case, I think Bill thinks it was worth bringing him in, and so he's here."
Floyd is just the latest example that in the NFL, the ability to play football on the field often trumps whatever issues you may have off it. Belichick declined to comment on Floyd's legal troubles, opting to let the whole process play out.
The Patriots head coach is certainly confident that Floyd's off-field problems will not be a detriment to the Patriots or his ability to help them from a football standpoint.
