Suspended Raiders OLB Aldon Smith posted on his Instagram account Sunday night that “he’s back“, which implied that he has been reinstated by the NFL.
However, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk confirmed with an NFL spokesman that Smith’s status is still under review.
Smith met with officials, including Commissioner Roger Goodell a few weeks ago in an attempt to secure reinstatement into the NFL. However, Goodell mentioned last week that his case is still being reviewed and there’s no timetable to make a decision.
“I’m not going to speculate on where we are and where it’s going to go,” Goodell said. “I will tell you that I think it was good for us to be able to meet with Aldon, to hear from him directly and to hear from his representative. The union was also represented there. We were going through all of the information to make sure we have it all absolutely accurate and that we all understand exactly where he is in the process of trying to get himself in a position where he’s got his life in order enough to resume an NFL career. It was good for me to hear from him personally. But when we get to that decision, we’ll certainly announce it.”
Smith applied for a return to the NFL back on October 3, which gave NFL commissioner Roger Goodell 60 days to render a decision but the league has been dragging their feet on making a determination.
The NFL is still expected to look into whether the Periscope video that appears to show him a hand-rolled cigarette violated the protocols required for a suspended player to be reinstated.
Smith entered a rehab facility soon after the video surfaced and spent 120 days there.
Smith, 27, is a former first-round pick of the 49ers back in 2010. He was cut loose by the 49ers shortly after a DUI incident last year, even though San Francisco picked up his fifth-year option.
Smith later signed a one-year deal with the Raiders that was worth up to $8 million, which was largely incentive-based. Oakland elected to re-sign Smith to a two-year, $11.5 million contract this past April, despite the fact that he was going to miss a large portion of the 2017 season.
In 2015, Smith has recorded 28 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, and three pass defenses over the course of nine games. Pro Football Focus currently rates Smith as the No. 33 edge defender out of 110 qualifying players.
We’ll have more regarding Smith returning to the Raiders as the news is available.
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