On Tuesday morning, state and local police officials showed up at the house of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez, arresting him in connection with the murder of 27-year old Odin Lloyd.
Shortly thereafter, the Patriots made an official announcement stating that team has released the former star tight end. Hernandez has been linked to the ongoing investigation for over a week now.
The Patriots’ decision to release Hernandez doesn’t come as much of a shock, although they are making things clear that they want nothing to do with the troubled tight end moving forward. Even if Hernandez was unable to attend workouts with the Patriots this summer, he would have collected $2.5 million this season — which is probably all he will see given his release from the team.
Hernandez’s contract prior to his release would have paid him $16.4 million guaranteed, which included a $12.5 million signing bonus. He signed a contract extension with the organization just last summer.
The charges that Hernandez faces remain unknown at this time, but he is reportedly on his way to the Attleborough District Court to face arraignment. After the documents have been processed within the courtroom, the news will be released to the public. It’ll be interesting to see if New England knows a little more information than what is out there at this time, given his quick release.
The Patriots made a mistake in signing Hernandez to the contract extension last summer, but who would’ve known something like this would have developed.
Follow Paul Seaver on Twitter: @PaulSeaverRS
