The San Francisco 49ers had no other choice but to cut Ray McDonald after a consistent “pattern of poor decision-making.” From DUI to domestic violence to recent allegations of sexual assault, the defensive linemen has his fair share of reasons for being 86’ed from the team …read more after the jump
via ESPN:
“While this organization has a strong belief in due process, and has demonstrated that over time, Ray has demonstrated a pattern of poor decision-making that has led to multiple distractions for this organization and this football team that really can no longer be tolerated,” Niners general manager Trent Baalke said in a hastily-called news conference. “And that’s the reason for the decision that we made today.
“This isn’t about this one incident; this is about a pattern. If this was one incident, we would be standing up here talking about due process, like we have multiple times, in multiple other situations. But this is just a pattern of decision-making that Ray has demonstrated over a period of time that once again, it’s no longer going to be tolerated.”
However, McDonald will be missed as an overall player and friend, with star QB, Kaepernick, even voicing his views on his teammate’s termination…
“Not a situation you want to hear about,” quarterback Colin Kaepernick said. “Very unfortunate.
“It’s tough. He was a good friend to a lot of people on this team. No one around him ever thought bad of him. He was always a good person to everyone around here, so hopefully it’s just a misunderstanding.”
“[I am] not angry,” Kaepernick said. “I understand the situation. I understand why the team did what they did. Outside of that, it’s really not my business.”
Baalke also said the Niners notified the league office about the allegation.
“This is a team decision,” he said. “This is not a league decision.
& it’s ALL about the money, as the termination will in fact affect the team financially as well!
By cutting McDonald, the Niners will take a $4.6 million hit against the salary cap in 2015. He was due to make $4.1 million in base salary next season.
The Niners will also have to find a replacement for McDonald, who had 39 tackles and three sacks this season. Tony Jerod-Eddie is behind him on the depth chart, with Tank Carradine likely to join the rotation for these last two games.
