Looks like Dallas Cowboys’ Aldon Smith is back!
The defensive end has been granted conditional reinstatement by the NFL after he was issued an indefinite suspension. Smith, 30, allegedly was in violation of the league’s personal conduct and substance abuse policies, according to reports.
Now Smith can take part in meetings with Cowboys coaches and teammates via the virtual offseason program; that begins Tuesday. Smith met with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell via a virtual call on Thursday.
The last game he played was in 2015 as a member of the Raiders due to legal and substance abuse issues. However, now reinstated, he will receive $90,000 from the Cowboys as part of the one-year deal he signed in April.
That deal could potentially be worth up to $4 million.
Smith, the No. 7 pick in the 2011 draft, recorded 47.5 sacks in 59 games with the San Francisco 49ers and Raiders. He had his best two seasons with the San Francisco 49ers including a 19.5-sack season in 2012. He was also named an All-Pro that year.
Genesis
Smith’s troubles started back in 2013. He was arrested on suspicion of DUI after crashing his truck into a tree in a residential neighborhood in San Jose, California.
In 2014, the NFL suspended him nine games for violating the league’s personal conduct and substance abuse policies.
In August 2015, Smith was released by the Niners the day after he was arrested on hit-and-run, DUI and vandalism charges. However, he signed with the Raiders a month later. Then he was suspended for a year for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.
Although the Raiders signed Smith to a two-year deal in 2016, they released him in 2018 after he was arrested on a number of charges: domestic violence, assault and false imprisonment. Smith pleaded no contest to a pair of misdemeanor charges in November 2018 to settle his domestic violence case from earlier that year.