San Francisco 49ers Cut Aldon Smith

Tony Avelar/Associated Press

The San Francisco 49ers have released star linebacker Aldon Smith. This news comes after he was arrested late last night for charges of DUI, Hit and Run and Vandalism. Smith has told reporters that there were no DUI charges during the arrest. This will be his fifth arrest in his short four year career.

Only playing seven games for the team last season, Smith recorded 15 tackles and 5 sacks. Before the 2013 season Smith was one of the best linebackers in the league, recording 14.5 sacks and 19.5 sacks in his first two years. He did not play that many games, due to getting suspended for 9 games by the league for violating NFL personal conduct and substance abuse policies.

Even though Smith hasn’t been as effective the past two seasons, there’s still a lot to like about him. He proved that he can get to the quarterback quickly and he has good speed to get pressure on the quarterback. The problem with Smith is he has a reputation of getting arrested and suspended and getting into trouble a lot. So when he is not causing trouble he is a really good player.

With this being his fifth arrest since being drafted, there was a lot of concern with the 49ers. Before the arrest the team and him were talking about a new contract. Now with this arrest the team will not have to deal with his off the field antics anymore. That is really a relief for any team that has a troubled player.

San Francisco made the right move by cutting him. However, he will be missed in the defense, he is a good player. But it is his off the field antics that is causing all of this to unfold. The team will miss his pass rushing ability, but this was one move that had to happen.

There are reports to this story that Smith vandalized starting quarterback Colin Kaepernick‘s car after the quarterback got with his girlfriend and it was not a hit and run. So there are a lot of things that can go with this story, so this will be interesting to watch leading up to the regular season.

On the Smith side of things, he has to grow up. There are going to be some teams that will be interested in him, but it might be awhile before he signs with any team due to his history with the law. He would be a great pass rusher for any team, he just needs to grow up and mature, focusing on only playing football every Sunday.