Ex-Cardinals coach communicated with suspended GM via burner phone

During Keim’s absence, Arizona signed running back David Johnson to a three-year, $39 million contract extension, which was likely approved by the GM while he was supposed to have no contact with anyone in the organization.

Wilks’ testimony was obtained via video conference as part of an ongoing arbitration case by former Cardinals VP Terry McDonough against Bidwill, whom he alleges exhibited discriminatory and racist behavior toward employees, as well as forcing other team executives to use burner phones to communicate with Keim.

Attorneys for the Cardinals filed a complaint with an NFL arbitrator maintaining that Wilks was not cross-examined during the deposition, and until he’s questioned by Cardinals attorneys, his testimony won’t officially be entered into record.

Wilks, now the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, says he only used the burner phone once, which was to respond to a message from Keim asking how practice was going.

"With me being a first-year head coach, I felt uncomfortable from the beginning that I worked this hard to get to this plateau and this opportunity, and then I was presented with this situation with being unethical," Wilks testified.

This is the second time this offseason the Cardinals have made headlines for all the wrong reasons. The organization settled a tampering case in April with the Philadelphia Eagles involving the hire of head coach Jonathan Gannon. Arizona swapped its third-round pick (No. 66 overall) with Philly (No. 94 overall) as part of the deal.