49ers Make Right Move for Team and NFL by Releasing DE Ray McDonald

There's a sea change underway in the National Football League.

The league is completely transforming how it handles allegations of assault and domestic violence against its players. There's a new personal conduct policy that includes much harsher punishments for such offenses.

Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson saw his 2014 season wiped out after pleading guilty to assaulting his son. The Baltimore Ravens released Ray Rice after the sickening video surfaced of the running back punching his then-fiancee in an Atlantic City casino elevator.

The San Francisco 49ers caught some flak for not adopting a similar hard-line stance when defensive end Ray McDonald was accused of domestic violence earlier this year.

Those charges were eventually dropped, but with McDonald once again the focus of a police investigation, the 49ers are making the only move they can:

They're showing McDonald the door.

Matt Maiocco of CSN Bay Area was among the first to report that the 49ers were severing ties with the eighth-year veteran, who has 39 tackles and three sacks this year:

As ESPN reported, 49ers general manager Trent Baalke released a statement. "This is about a pattern of poor behavior," Baalke said. "We expect a lot from our players, hold them accountable for their actions."

Frankly, McDonald didn't leave the 49ers much choice in the matter. As ABC 7 News reported, San Jose police served a search warrant at McDonald's home Wednesday after the 30-year-old was accused of sexually assaulting a woman earlier this week:

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San Jose police report getting a call from a local area hospital regarding a possible sexual assault victim who was receiving treatment. Officers responded and made contact with the adult female victim. The victim alleged she was possibly sexually assaulted a day prior. The preliminary investigation revealed the alleged suspect was Ray McDonald. This is the latest investigation surrounding the 49ers defensive lineman.

Just last month, the Santa Clara District Attorney's Office decided it did not have enough evidence to prosecute McDonald in a domestic violence case involving his pregnant fiance. McDonald was arrested in August in that case where his pregnant fiance reported she was the victim of domestic violence.

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Granted, there will probably be those who will claim that McDonald is being railroaded. Or denied his day in court. Or whatever.

However, we aren't talking about an isolated incident here. This marks the third time police have visited McDonald's house since May, and the second time McDonald has been accused of assaulting a woman in the past four months.

As Bleacher Report NFL Lead Writer Mike Freeman put it:

Former NFL punter Chris Kluwe took Freeman's statement one step further:

And there's more to it than just the allegations. It goes without saying that they are despicable beyond words. If McDonald is found guilty, they should throw the book at him, pick the book back up and throw it at him again.

But for a second allegation to surface only a few months after McDonald was accused of beating a pregnant woman? In this new (and welcome) climate in the NFL regarding such offenses?

McDonald has shown zero loyalty to his teammates or the 49ers organization with the choices he has made. Why should they show him any, especially since the league will all but surely act swiftly and severely in this matter?

The 49ers front office has taken quite a bit of criticism during this immensely disappointing season. Much of it has been deserved.

In this case, however, the 49ers should be commended, even if this was a decision that essentially made itself.

And thankfully, both the 49ers and the NFL as a whole are finally coming to the realization that it's time to take allegations of this sort seriously.

Gary Davenport is an NFL Analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPManor.