The Patriots today released TE Aaron Hernandez "less than two hours after he was arrested by police at his home." Hernandez has already earned about $10.15M from a seven-year, $40M contract he signed prior to the '12 season, including $9.25M in signing-bonus money. He has another $3.25M signing bonus payment due in March '14, but it is "unclear at this time whether the Patriots will be able to avoid paying it."
Also unclear is "whether the Patriots will be able to recoup some or all of the signing bonus money already paid to Hernandez," whether they can avoid paying him $2.5M in guaranteed base salary due in '13 and '14 and "if they can get salary cap relief in the future." Hernandez will still count $4.073M against the salary cap in '13, and as much as $9M against the cap in '14 (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 6/26).
Social media was filled with reaction to the charges. Forbes’ Alicia Jessop wrote on her Twitter feed, “Aaron Hernandez being led away in handcuffs in front of media is a PR nightmare. His attorney should've negotiated him turning himself in.” Yahoo Sports’ Dan Wetzel wrote, “If there is one truism in the world it's this: if Roger Cossack is talking about you on TV, you're having a bad day."
