METAIRIE, La. -- Junior Galette passed his physical Saturday and was officially released by the New Orleans Saints on Monday.
The news broke Friday that the Saints would cut ties with the embattled Galette because of a series of off-the-field issues -- even though they will have to absorb a salary-cap hit of more than $17 million over the next two years.
The Saints were waiting for Galette to pass the physical to make the move official because he tore a pectoral muscle in the weight room this summer.
Galette led the Saints with 22 sacks over the past two years and signed a four-year, $41.5 million contract extension in September. But he fell out of favor with Saints management as last season went on -- then sealed his fate with two allegations of violence against women this offseason.
He was arrested in January for allegedly injuring a female houseguest while trying to force her to leave his home -- though charges were later dismissed. Then in June, a 2013 video surfaced that showed a man who appears to be Galette hitting a woman with a belt during a group scuffle on a Florida beach.
Galette's attorney Ralph Whalen told media outlets that there is no proof his client is the person in the video.
Galette could face a league suspension for the incidents, but the NFL has confirmed only that the review process is ongoing. Galette told media outlets that he met with the NFL about a month ago.
The 27-year-old Galette ruffled feathers in the locker room with his brash personality last year even before the off-the-field issues emerged. Sources confirmed that he got into at least one physical confrontation with former teammate Brandon Deaderick in the locker room before a game and said there was also tension between Galette and other teammates as the Saints defense spiraled into dysfunction throughout last season.
Galette also drew the ire of current and former teammates last season when he derisively insisted that the Saints' current defensive players were better than the veterans from their Super Bowl era.
A source said Galette didn't deserve to be singled out as the only problem for a defense that had an abundance of chemistry issues, though -- including at least one more locker-room fight.
The Saints considered releasing or trading Galette even sooner, but his contract made it virtually impossible to unload him before June 1. Because they waited until June 1, the Saints can spread out the cap hit over the next two years -- $5.45 million this year and a whopping $12.1 million next year.
New Orleans now leads the NFL with more than $28 million in dead money against its salary cap this year after trading or releasing several veteran players during a drastic offseason overhaul in the wake of last year's 7-9 collapse.