Getty Former Vikings cornerback Bashaud Breeland was arrested and charged with possession of illegal firearms, drugs and a stolen vehicle, according to local police records.
Former Minnesota Vikings starting cornerback Bashaud Breeland was arrested in North Carolina and was charged with numerous drug and weapon charges, according to local police.
Breeland, 31, who won a Super Bowl with the Kansas City Chiefs and played for the Vikings in 2021, was accused of possessing a stolen Mercedes-Benz SUV, several firearms — including two AK-47s and two AR-15s — 62 grams of suspected illegal mushrooms and five pounds of marijuana, according to police records obtained by CBS affiliate WBTV.
He was booked at Mecklenburg County Jail in Charlotte after a traffic stop led to his arrest on Monday afternoon, August 7, per WBTV. Jail records show he was booked into the jail at 2:12 a.m. on Tuesday, August 8, and released on $30,000 bond at 4:40 the same morning.
In addition to charges involving drugs and the stolen vehicle, Breeland was charged with altering serial numbers, altering a title and possession of a stolen firearm, according to WBTV and jail records, which show he faces a total of eight charges.
Breeland appeared in 107 games in his NFL career, with 101 starts, and had 16 interceptions, 10 forced fumbles and 63 combined tackles.
He was released midseason by the Vikings in 2021 after an altercation involving him took place at practice. He has not played in the league since.
Bashaud Breeland Took His Cleats Off in Altercation At Vikings Practice in 2021
GettyVikings cornerback Bashaud Breeland was released on Saturday, December 18, 2021, after a “verbal altercation” at practice.
Before a Week 15 primetime matchup with the Chicago Bears that had playoff implications on the line for the Vikings, Breeland got into a “verbal altercation” with coaches and teammates, which was “too much to come back from,” NFL insider Tom Pelissero reported in December 2021.
“The #Vikings waived starting CB Bashaud Breeland after he got into a verbal altercation today at practice with coaches, took off his cleats and got into it with multiple teammates who were trying to calm the situation, sources tell me and [Ian Rapoport]. Too much to come back from,” Pelissero tweeted.
Breeland’s altercation at practice was the final straw after a controversial history in Minnesota.
Star Tribune reporter Ben Goessling reported in December 2021 that Breeland was the subject of a civil lawsuit filed that October, “brought by neighboring tenants who claimed Breeland ‘and his several guests have been smoking cannabis,’ and the apartment would not ‘disrupt’ Breeland ‘solely due to the fact he is a Minnesota Vikings football player.'”
He went on a social media tirade after the Vikings’ 19-17 win over the Detroit Lions, posting an NSFW tweet bashing fans after he was booed for committing a costly penalty during the game.
Breeland struggled that season, ranking 117th out of 120 graded cornerbacks by Pro Football Focus (PFF) entering Week 15.
Bashaud Breeland’s Exit Came in the Final Days of the Zimmer-Spielman Vikings Regime
The previous Vikings regime’s culture soured in its final days as pressures to produce a playoff season in 2021 mounted.
In an exclusive interview with USA Today Sports+ reporter Josina Anderson, Breeland offered his side of his final day in Minnesota, which proved to be one of the final weeks for Mike Zimmer and Rick Spielman.
Breeland said the NFL Media report of the incident was “blown out of proportion,” but he revealed there was a build-up after he got into a verbal exchange with a coach, who he said was not Mike Zimmer.
The tension in the meeting room boiled over onto the field as Breeland was told to not take the field with the starters, prompting him to take his cleats off and put on his workout shoes while watching attentively, he said.
Breeland told Anderson he later had an exchange with another player that “escalated out of nowhere.” According to Anderson, “The player charged, ‘like he wanted to fight,’ Breeland said.”
“The whole time I had my hands in my hoodie. You can see my demeanor was like, ‘I’m not on that, but if you want to be on that we can be on that,'” Breeland told Anderson.
General manager Rick Spielman stepped onto the field to break up the altercation, which proved to be Breeland’s last straw with Spielman, Anderson reported.
“That’s when the general manager stepped in on the field. I feel like Zimmer came over there, saw confusion and just kicked me out,” Breeland said, per Anderson. “I feel like Zimmer was already feeling some kind of way because I wasn’t practicing. I said, ‘If I’m not being cut or released I shouldn’t have to leave practice.'”
Spielman and Zimmer were fired just weeks later after the Vikings missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season. Players came out and shared anecdotes, describing a “fear-based” culture, leading to ownership going in a new direction with new hirings of general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and head coach Kevin O’Connell.