The Chicago Bears released defensive lineman Ray McDonald after he was arrested Monday in California on a domestic violence charge, the latest in a string of run-ins that have tested the boundaries of the N.F.L.’s tougher personal conduct policy.
McDonald’s release came nine months after he was arrested in a separate domestic violence case and just two months after the Bears signed him to an incentive-laden free-agent contract.
McDonald was not charged in the first case, and the San Francisco 49ers, his team last season, did not penalize him. But in December, three months later, the 49ers released him soon after learning that he was being investigated over an accusation of sexual assault.