On June 4, 2021, in Lorain County, Ohio New York Giants cornerback Sam Beal pleaded guilty to two gun-related charges, per NorthJersey.com’s Art Stapleton. The charges stem from an early June 2020 arrest near the Cleveland area where the 24-year-old was stopped for a traffic violation and subsequently charged with carrying a concealed weapon, improperly handling a firearm in a vehicle and marijuana possession less than bulk.
Here’s more from the NorthJersey.com report:
Court records obtained by NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY Network indicate Beal entered into a pretrial diversion program, which puts conditions on him to meet in exchange to avoid a conviction on his record. He has been placed on two years of probation until June 3, 2022 and was ordered to pay court costs and court-appointed attorney fees.
According to the court records obtained by NorthJersey.com, Beal was arrested on June 2nd of last year and indicted on Aug. 13, 2020. Eight days prior to that indictment date, Beal elected to opt-out of the 2020 regular season, citing concerns over COVID-19.
As SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano noted, Beal’s guilty plea could lead to discipline at the hands of the NFL — that is, as Vacchiano put it, “if the Giants don’t cut him first.”
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Giants Release Statement Regarding Beal
“We have been aware of the situation,” the Giants said in a statement, via ESPN. “We have no further comment at this time.”
Beal, a former highly-touted third-round selection in the 2018 supplemental draft, did not attend voluntary OTAs this spring. He did, however, recently take part in the team’s three-day mandatory minicamp and remains on the Giants’ 90-man roster.
Perceived by many as a first-round talent coming out of Western Michigan, Beal has fallen vastly below expectations since arriving in East Rutherford — mainly due to unavailability. The former Second-Team All-Mac selection missed his second full season in three years last season. Overall, he’s appeared in a total of just six games (three starts) since joining the Giants, all of which came in 2019. Over that time frame he collected 20 tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass defended and an overall Pro Football Focus grade of 54.0.
Is Beal Done in New York?
The chances of Beal making it out of training camp remain an uphill battle. A holdover from the previous coaching regime, Beal looks to be a longshot in a revamped Giants secondary. Already boasting one of the league’s premier cover-corners in James Bradberry, the team went out this offseason and signed ex-first-rounder Adoree’ Jackson to a lucrative contract and selected cornerbacks Aaron Robinson and Rodarius Williams in this past April’s NFL Draft.
On top of that, the team also has Isaac Yiadom and Darnay Holmes at their disposal — each of whom registered the second and third most snaps by a Giants cornerback last season, respectively.
There’s also a belief that the ever-versatile Julian Love could factor into the cornerback rotation in 2021. A former consensus All-American cornerback at Notre Dame, Love has played predominantly as a safety over his first two NFL seasons. However, with the star-studded duo of Logan Ryan and Jabrill Peppers on the backend, as well as the return of a healthy Xavier McKinney, the Giants will have more flexibility to deploy Love where they see fit.
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Giants Defender ‘Faces Possible Discipline from NFL’: Report