Latest On Aldon Smith

THURSDAY, 9:38pm: The 49ers don’t currently plan to release Smith, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (via Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk).

TUESDAY, 6:02pm: After talking with several sources involved in the 49ers decision making, Tim Kawakami of the Mercury News gets the sense that Aldon Smith won’t play for the club in 2014. That doesn’t mean that San Francisco will release the talented outside linebacker, but the Niners have reached a point of frustration that they haven’t shown towards any player in recent years.

The 49ers won’t cut bait with Smith right away since they’re on the hook for a guaranteed $3MM+ and want to wait and see what the NFL’s punishment will look like. However, 49ers owner Jed York, the York family, and GM Trent Baalke feel embarrassed, according to Kawakami’s sources, and Jim Harbaugh feels similarly. San Francisco knows how talented Smith is and it’s conceivable that the club could change course and welcome him back, but it would take a lot from the 24-year-old in a short period of time for that to happen.

On the flipside, Kawakami hears that the club’s weariness and frustration is mostly focused on Smith. Team management supports Colin Kaepernick through the “suspicious incident” that he had in Miami and they’re not planning to release Chris Culliver despite his felony and misdemeanor hit-and-run charges recently.

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