Browns Rookie LB Ausar Walcott Charged With Attempted Murder

UPDATE: The Browns have released Walcott.

Browns rookie LB Ausar Walcott has been charged with attempted murder after allegedly punching a man outside a NJ bar.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 26, 2013

Original story below.

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Amidst this whole Aaron Hernandez story, the Cleveland Browns have someone who is in a whole heck of a lot of trouble as well: LB Ausar Walcott. For the Browns' sake, at least Walcott isn't a player they were depending on or anything. They signed him as an undrafted free agent mid-way through May.

According to The Record, Walcott turned himself in and was arrested Tuesday. He has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly punching a man outside a bar in Passaic, who was listed in critical condition. Pro Football Talk cited a history of violence for Walcott:

While at the University of Virginia, Walcott was involved in a fight that caused the school to suspend him from the team. He was reinstated when all charges were dropped and told the Washington Post in 2011 that he’d learned a lesson about walking away from potentially bad situations before they had a chance to escalate. There aren’t many details from Sunday morning, but it appears that things didn’t work out that way this time.

I don't think this guy is going to make it to my training camp preview on the linebackers: the team should release him by then. Granted, there is some lee-way that you give to some NFL players or draft picks, but an undrafted free agent typically doesn't get that luxury, especially if you want to avoid the negative publicity as a team.

The Browns released a statement saying saying that they were aware of the matter but would not comment due to it being a pending legal matter. I'm sure that's not the type of thing new Browns PR director Zak Gilbert expected to have on his desk for one of his first days at work: "one of your players has been charged with attempted murder, now follow the PR protocol."