Defensive tackle Ray McDonald was released by Chicago on Monday following his early morning arrest. He was arrested on misdemeanor domestic violence and child endangerment charges.
The Bears knew McDonald had quite the rap sheet and took a risk signing him to a one year $1.5 million contract back in March, however, since none of the money on his contract was guaranteed his arrest hurts the name of the franchise and not the salary cap as well.
GM Ryan Pace: “We believe in 2nd chances, but when we signed Ray we were very clear what our expectations were if he was to remain a Bear…
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 25, 2015
Pace cont: “He was not able to meet the standard and the decision was made to release him.” — Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) May 25, 2015
Some of you may recall that McDonald was released by the Niners after being named a suspect in a sexual assault case back in December. He was also arrested for domestic violence in August of last year, although he played the entire season and the prosecutors decided not to file formal charges. In 2010 McDonald was arrested on the suspicion of driving under the influence.
After this latest arrest the defensive tackles future in the NFL is doubtful as it was already considered unlikely, before signing with the Bears, that a team would sign him this off season.
Over the past four seasons, McDonald logged 112 tackles and 14 1/2 sacks.
