Raiders' Aldon Smith suspended for 1 year
ALAMEDA, Calif. - The penalty is effective immediately and Smith will be eligible to apply for reinstatement no sooner than 60 days before the end of the suspension.
Smith released a statement Tuesday night thanking the Raiders their fans and owner Mark Davis for their support.
Smith will be a free agent after the season but the Raiders said they would like to bring him back when he is eligible to play again.
Smith becomes the first player suspended for a full year since Cleveland's Josh Gordon in February — also for substance abuse.
The NFL released a statement that read, "Aldon Smith of the Oakland Raiders has been notified that he is now suspended without pay for a minimum of one year for violating the NFL Policy and Program for Substances of Abuse. Under the terms of the policy, Smith will be eligible to apply for reinstatement no sooner than 60 days before the one-year anniversary of the suspension."
Smith was in a contract year. He started seven games and played in nine for the Raiders, finishing his second straight suspension-shortened season with 28 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks. Smith was coming off one of his best games of the season in Oakland's 30-14 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday when he had one sack and three quarterback hurries.
Smith signed a one-year contract with Oakland just two days before the season opener. The deal could have earned him as much as $8 million with bonuses and incentives.
Smith pulled quarterback Derek Carr into an adjacent room and the two spoke at length before Smith returned to the locker room and began saying goodbye to several other teammates, including wide receiver Michael Crabtree, who played with him in San Francisco.
Police said in the August incident that Smith collided with a parked vehicle while parking his car, then caused further damage to the parked vehicle with his car door. The scene was only a couple of miles from 49ers team headquarters, at or on the street of Smith's former luxury apartment complex.
That was the latest known incident for Smith in a long list of off-field issues.
Smith was arrested on April 13, 2014, at Los Angeles International Airport. Police said Smith was randomly selected for a secondary screening and became uncooperative with the process, telling a TSA agent that he had a bomb. No charges were filed.
ESPN first reported the suspension.Watch our interview with Aldon Smith after his DUI arrest in August below.
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