Cardinals place Dwyer on non-football injury list; cut Rainey from practice squad

Jonathan Dwyer, who was arrested on allegations of two incidents of aggravated assault from July involving a woman and a small child, has been placed on the reserve/non-football injury list by the Arizona Cardinals, according to reports.

Reports indicate that the woman was Dwyer's wife and that he head-butted her.

This is fascinating because it differs from the transactions made by the Minnesota Vikings and Carolina Panthers with Adrian Peterson and Greg Hardy, respectively, following their domestic-abuse incidents. Those two teams placed Peterson and Hardy on the cxempt/commissioner's permission list.

Here's the main differences: The NFL needed to grant the Vikings and Panthers permission for those players to land on that list, and they're being paid while out. Dwyer's designation means the Cardinals could opt not to pay his salary.

But it begs the question: What's Dwyer's non-football injury? It appears the team could be fearful of his mental health.

In addition, the Cardinals have cut troubled practice-squad running back Chris Rainey, who has had a history of trouble since his days at University of Florida, including a 2013 arrest for domestic abuse that led to his release from the Pittsburgh Steelers

The NFL's dark period continues, but at least teams appear to be more open to being proactive in parting ways with troubled players.

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Eric Edholm is a writer for Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at edholm@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Eric_Edholm