Former Cardinals Exec Accuses Team, Michael Bidwill for Defamation

Former Arizona Cardinals VP of Player Personnel Terry McDonough is accusing the team and owner Michael Bidwill of defamation and invasion of privacy.

The Arizona Cardinals were hoping to finally clear their name out of headlines following the 2023 NFL Draft, as offseason activities and minicamps look to get underway shortly.

However, the team remains in the news following new allegations from former Vice President of Player Personnel Terry McDonough, who is now accusing Cardinals Owner Michael Bidwill of defamation and invasion of privacy "following comments the team posted on its website and distributed to the media last month" according to ESPN. 

The filed complaint - which was acquired by ESPN - is reporting that the Cardinals and Bidwill "publicly disclosed private facts about McDonough" and made "false and defamatory statements about McDonough" that the team knew "to be false" as part of its "effort to intimidate and harass him and his family members."

The statement in reference from the team said that the Cardinals "learned of disturbing allegations of extreme domestic violence by Terry" and that McDonough had "abandoned responsibility" to "one of his children and had cut her off financially."

This ties back to accusations made in April by McDonough, who accused Bidwill of cheating, discrimination and harassment. His lack of participation lead to Bidwill making it tough for McDonough to reach future employment opportunities, McDonough alleges.

(You can read more about that here)

"We are aware of the amended complaint and remain confident in our position," the Cardinals said in a statement in response to this, while also adding "We are precluded from commenting further based on an existing confidentiality order that binds all parties."