It turns out that National Football League (NFL) player Rashaan Evans was arrested for marijuana possession the day before he was waived by the Dallas Cowboys. 

The Cowboys, however, are claiming that Evans's arrest and Evans's wavier are unrelated events.

"A day before his release from the Dallas Cowboys, linebacker Rashaan Evans was arrested Tuesday by Frisco police for possession of marijuana," ESPN reports.

The outlet adds, "Team sources said Evans' release was not directly related to his arrest."

The Dallas Morning News has published some of the details of Evans's arrest. The outlet, citing "a Frisco police spokesperson," reports that "Evans’ [was arrested] for possessing between 2 and 4 oz. of marijuana, a misdemeanor, carried little weight."

The news of Evans' waiver came the day after his arrest, on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 2023. CowboysWire described the move as "an unexpected roster move."

Per the outlet:

Wednesday brought an unexpected roster move to Dallas with the release of Rashaan Evans. While he hadn’t contributed much, his exit leaves the linebacker corps even thinner than it had been.

According to The Dallas Morning News, the Cowboys are claiming that Evans's arrest and Evans's waiver "are not necessarily related."

The outlet reports:

A team official downplayed the influence that Tuesday’s arrest had on the transaction. A variety of factors were considered, including the Cowboys’ need to clear a roster spot for offensive tackle Matt Waletzko. He tweaked his shoulder in the preseason and missed the regular season’s first 15 games. Facing the conclusion of a 21-day practice window, Waletzko needed to be either activated to the 53-man roster or remain on injured reserve, missing the season’s remainder.

Whether this is the whole story of Evans's waiver is unclear.

In addition to waiving Evans, the Cowboys have activated tackle Matt Waletzko from injured reserved. CowboysWire called the addition of Waletzko "a very big piece of depth" for the team's offensive line for "the home stretch of the season."

Evans, according to NBC Sports, first entered the NFL in 2018, when he was a first-round draft pick of the Tennessee Titans. He played with the Titans for four seasons before, last season, moving on to the Atlantic Falcons.

After that, Evans had a stint with the Philadelphia Eagles, but he only played on the practice squad. Then, Evans became part of the Cowboys.

Evans, as a linebacker, appeared in nine regular-season games for the Cowboys before the team decided to release him. During those nine appearances, he had nine tackles.