The San Francisco won't cut linebacker Reuben Foster until the legal process plays out. On Monday, 49ers general manager John Lynch said that Foster won't be a part of the team if the domestic violence charges against him are "proven true," which means they're not cutting him solely based on the accusations and charges that have been brought against him.
"The gravity of these charges has not been lost on us," Lynch said. "We take it extremely seriously. We do feel like patience is the right approach right now -- that we're going to learn things through this legal process. But I do want to be very clear -- abundantly clear -- that if these charges are proven true, if Reuben did indeed hit this young lady, he won't be a part of our organization going forward. That's the standard we want on our team. That's the standard we're going to operate under."
What's not entirely clear is how the 49ers will determine if the charges are proven true or not. On Friday, The Sacramento Bee's Matt Barrows reported that the victim in the case hired an attorney, which could signal that she does not plan to cooperate with the prosecution, according to legal experts.
That's quite the departure from the way the 49ers handled the situation involving cornerback Tramaine Brock a year ago. When Brock was arrested last April following an alleged incident of domestic violence, he got cut by the team less than 24 hours later. The charges against Brock were eventually dropped while the NFL closed its investigation without issuing a suspension. Brock has since signed with the Broncos after stints with the Seahawks and Vikings last year.
"As those situations arise and, hopefully, there won't be a lot them, we're going to treat each one of them as a unique and different situation," Lynch said last year, per The San Francisco Chronicle.
Of course, one of the biggest differences between Brock and Foster is that Brock joined the team as an undrafted rookie in 2010 while Foster was a first-round pick just a year ago and could be one of the most important pieces of the 49ers' rebuild. During his rookie season, Foster dealt with injury issues, but when he was on the field, he made a substantial impact, grading out as Pro Football Focus' fourth-best linebacker.
But trouble began in January, when Foster was charged with second-degree possession of marijuana after an incident in Alabama. In February, Foster was arrested and accused of dragging his girlfriend during an argument. Foster was later charged with domestic violence, allegedly inflicting great bodily injury, forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime, and possessing an assault weapon, all of which are felonies. He could face more than 11 years in prison if convicted and a six-game suspension under the league's domestic violence policy regardless of how the legal process plays out.