Washington claims troubled LB Reuben Foster off waivers
That didn’t take long. Less than 24 hours after former 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster was made available on waivers, the Washington Redskins claimed him. They were the only team to place a claim. Shortly after Foster signed, the NFL placed him on the Commissioner’s Exempt List while they review his case. Foster will be allowed to participate in team activities except for playing in games.
Foster, who was a first-round draft pick in 2017 was released by San Francisco early Sunday morning after he was arrested at the team hotel following a domestic dispute with his ex-girlfiend. It was Foster’s second arrest on domestic charges involving the same woman. Santa Clara police were also notified about a third incident last month.
49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan thoughtfully and thoroughly addressed why Foster was released, including whether or not he still believed Foster was incident from the February incident. (Foster’s girlfriend recanted her accusation at the time and said she was trying to “ruin his career”
“I don’t think it totally matters. I don’t think it’s totally fair to say that. You’d like to believe people. I do usually when they look you in the eye and tell you stuff. There’s a part of Reuben, and I don’t think everyone is from the same situations that I was growing up. I think everyone’s in a different situation. I think I’ve heard of, just being in the profession I’m in, I’ve heard of some really bad situations of kids growing up. Reuben grew up in as bad of one as I’ve ever heard. That’s where I feel that it’s been hard for him to be the same way as everyone else. I do believe in his heart. I have. I hope I’m not wrong on that. Shame on me if I am. But, I also know he’s shown that we couldn’t trust his decision making. So, no matter how much I think he could be better and he’s shown in glimpses that he is a person you want to support and help, it’s why we can’t. He’s shown that you can’t trust him to make the right decisions. Hopefully, for Reuben’s sake, I thought rock bottom was last time and I thought it would be very simple that that would be his wakeup call, and I think it was in a lot of areas, but to put yourself in the situation that he put himself in, whether it happened or not, if it happened it’s so easy, but if it didn’t, that still was too bad of a decision to make us comfortable with keeping that person in our organization. Hopefully this is rock bottom for him and he can fix himself in all those ways and still find a way to go have success in his life or hopefully another team someday.”
Washington has lost two-in-a-row in the wake of Alex Smith’s devastating season ender. They are clinging on to the no. 6 seed with Carolina and Seattle breathing down their neck. While Foster has underperformed this season, he is an undeniable talent. But with a possible suspension looming and little time passing since his last arrest, this move by Washington is perplexing.
