The illegal gambling charges against three former Iowa State football players and a former Iowa State wrestler have been dropped because of the way the evidence was gathered in the case.
Attorneys for ex-Iowa State football players Jirehl Brock, Isaiah Lee and Eyioma Uwazurike and wrestler Paniro Johnson had argued that Iowa’s Division of Criminal Investigation inappropriately obtained evidence that the men were making sports wagers by geofencing areas around Iowa State’s campus to investigate potential underage gambling.
On Friday, the state dismissed all of the charges against the athletes with prejudice.
Uwazurike was a fourth-round pick of the Denver Broncos in the 2022 NFL Draft and recorded 17 total tackles in his rookie season. He missed the 2023 season after the NFL suspended him indefinitely. Prosecutors had said that Uwazurike had bet on Broncos games during his rookie season.
The four were part of a larger gambling probe into alleged betting activity by athletes at Iowa State and Iowa. Though Uwazurike was suspended for betting on the NFL as an NFL player, he was also being investigated for bets he made while at Iowa State. Over his rookie season, he had been accused of making 32 bets on the Broncos over five games.
The dismissed charges do not affect plea deals other players took relating to the case. Iowa State QB Hunter Dekkers was among four athletes who agreed to a reduced charge of underage gambling in September. As part of their plea deal, they received a fine and no other penalties. Dekkers did not play during the 2023 season.
Recently, The Athletic polled eight different NFL coaches and executives in a brilliant, resourceful story about Justin Fields’ trade value this offseason.
Here are the main takeaways from the coaches and execs.
“The majority opinion is the Bears would corral a second- or third-round pick, but there was some variation in those responses,” Jeff Howe wrote. “One executive said he’d be worth a second-rounder or its equivalent value in a package of a third- and fifth-round pick.
“Two other executives thought the return would be a second- or third-rounder, depending on where the selection is in the round. Another believed it could be a 2025 third-round pick that could become a second-rounder based on certain statistical benchmarks.”
According to the report, there were two outliers. One coach thinks a first-round pick could be in play based on “supply and demand.” By that theory, the Bears would need to trade Fields soon. On March 13, NFL free agency will open and quarterbacks will come off the market quickly.
The other outlier, according to Howe, was a coach who said he’d only cough up a third-round pick for Fields. An executive told Howe “there’s a reason they’re moving on.”
Recently, NFL Goliath reporter Adam Schefter offered his two cents on “The Pat McAfee Show” on what he thinks the Bears will get in return for Fields.
“Sam Darnold, to me, when you talk to people, might be the most relevant compensation comparison,” Schefter said. “… I think that the Justin Fields compensation is somewhere between what Alex Smith got and what Sam Darnold brought.”
When the Jets moved off of Darnold to draft Zach Wilson back in 2021, they sent him to Carolina in exchange for a 2021 sixth-round pick, a 2022 second-round pick and a 2022 fourth-round pick. That’s a nice return for a quarterback the Bears would hypothetically have no use for.
We should know in the next couple of weeks where things stand with Fields. General manager Ryan Poles told the media he’d prefer to do right by Fields and move him as soon as possible if the Bears decide to go down that route.
“No one wants to live in gray, I know that’s uncomfortable,” Poles said on Tuesday. “I wouldn’t want to be in that situation either. So, we will gather the information, we will move as quickly as possible, we are not going to be in a rush and see what presents itself and what’s best for the organization.”
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