Arizona Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill came under fire from a former team executive Tuesday afternoon, and the allegations do not paint Bidwill’s conduct as owner in a remotely positive light.
According to an ESPN report, former Cardinals vice president Terry McDonough filed an arbitration claim against Bidwill, accusing him of cheating, discrimination and harassment. McDonough’s claim was filed to NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
In a statement provided to ESPN, the Cardinals denied the allegations, saying McDonough was “lashing out” at the franchise with “disparagements and threats that are absurdly at odds with the facts.”
Here’s what we know so far about the allegations.
Bidwill allegedly required subordinates to use burner phones
In his claim, per the ESPN report, McDonough — the younger brother of ESPN play-by-play commentator Sean McDonough — alleged that he and former head coach Steve Wilks were forced to use burner phones to keep in contact with former general manager Steve Keim, who was serving a five-week suspension for a summer 2018 DUI in Arizona.
The idea was that the Cardinals could hide their apparent cheating conduct under the table by using these phones. Both McDonough and Wilks objected to the plan, which violated the terms of Keim’s suspension.
In response, Bidwill — who has owned the Cardinals since fully inheriting them from his late father, Bill, in 2019 — allegedly belittled McDonough, reprimanded him and eventually demoted him to senior personnel executive.
According to ESPN, McDonough maintains he still has the phone, which has evidence of the Cardinals’ planned cheating. He further alleged that Bidwill sabotaged Wilks’ first opportunity as a head coach before eventually firing him at the end of the season.
Per The New York Times, Wilks joined former Miami Dolphins’ head coach Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL for racial discriminatory hiring practices in the summer of 2022.
Arizona finished 3-13 in 2018 and had the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.
Bidwill allegedly disciplined McDonough by limiting his opportunities for advancement
Aside from his demotion, McDonough accused Bidwill of blocking him from other opportunities around the NFL, alleging that opportunities for other jobs across the league disappeared. He is now seeking damages for breach of contract and emotional distress.
The Cardinals deny these allegations, maintaining they had “repeatedly encouraged and facilitated Terry’s [McDonough] wish to continue his career advancement.”
Bidwill's alleged bullying reportedly targeted other employees
According to ESPN, some more notable cases of Bidwill’s alleged bullying include targeting two pregnant women and “creating an environment of fear for minority employees.”
This has been brewing for a while, and carries some serious accusations—Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill is accused of "bullying treatment" towards pregnant women and having "created an environment of fear for minority employees."
Arizona is disputing the accusations. https://t.co/xlQqdH09Hm
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) April 4, 2023
The Cardinals refuted this accusation by using an example of a free-agent meeting Bidwill and McDonough attended together, where the owner displayed no “racial animus” while calling this portion of the overall allegation “especially despicable.”
Bidwill allegedly blocked the results of an employee survey about Arizona's work environment
McDonough alleged Bidwill tried to hide his misconduct among the organization’s workers. The former executive claims Bidwell “intercepted the results” of a survey focused on workplace culture in Arizona when it became clear Bidwill wouldn’t receive a favorable response.
“Many of the employees who responded to the survey indicated that they were fearful of Bidwill on a daily basis, as a result of Bidwill’s erratic and often abusive interactions with them.”
This allegation would also align with a recent revelation from the NFLPA that the Cardinals do not provide their players with sufficient support and amenities.
What's next?
Overall, the Cardinals are painting McDonough as an outlier who frequently battled his colleagues and violated their rules. McDonough’s team, led by attorney Mike Caspino, has called this method “dishonest character assassination.”
The Cardinals have 20 days to formally respond to McDonough’s claim per the NFL’s official guidelines. Goodell will then evaluate McDonough’s claims and determine a potential route for a possible arbitration hearing.
