Las Vegas Raiders

Raiders re-sign suspended DE Aldon Smith

Published Apr. 4, 2016 2:16 p.m. ET

Dan Graf

Free-agent pass rusher Aldon Smith, who was suspended for one year by the NFL last November, is returning to the Oakland Raiders.

Smith, 26, was released by the 49ers last August after a series of off-field troubles that culminated with his fifth arrest since he joined the San Francisco team in 2011. He pleaded not guilty in September to misdemeanor counts of hit-and-run, DUI and vandalism and was signed by the Raiders that same month.

He had 3½ sacks in nine game before the NFL suspended him for violating its substance abuse policy, and he will be eligible to apply for reinstatement no sooner than 60 days before the one-year anniversary of his Nov. 17, 2015, suspension.

Smith, the seventh overall pick in the 2011 draft, was once one of the NFL’s most effective pass rushers. He had 14 sacks as a rookie and 19.5 in his second season, when he played in a Super Bowl with the 49ers. But injuries and off-field troubles have limited him to 21 games in the past three seasons.