Reuben Foster will be dropped by San Francisco 49ers if charges proven, says GM John Lynch

Linebacker Reuben Foster will be dropped by the San Francisco 49ers if domestic violence charges against him are proven to be true, says general manager John Lynch.

The 49ers said earlier this month that Foster would not join his teammates at the offseason workout program or its minicamp in June while dealing with the case.

"I'm not at liberty to go in depth on this because it's an ongoing legal process, and we're going to respect that," Lynch told reporters ahead of the Draft, which begins on Thursday.

"We take the gravity of these charges extremely seriously. We do feel like patience is the right approach right now. We're going to learn things through this legal process.

"But I want to be abundantly clear, if these charges are proven true, if Reuben did hit this young lady, he won't be a part of this organisation going forward."

Foster was charged on April 12 with domestic violence with an allegation of inflicting great bodily injury and forcefully attempting to prevent a victim from reporting a crime, stemming from a February arrest after an alleged incident at a residence in Los Gatos, California.

He is accused of dragging his girlfriend by the hair and punching her in the head eight to 10 times, leaving the alleged victim with a punctured eardrum.

Foster, who turned 24 earlier this month, was also charged with possession of an assault weapon, a felony, and possession of a high-capacity magazine, a misdemeanour, though the latter will be dropped at his plea hearing, currently scheduled for April 30.