Jimmie Ward will be unavailable for at least the first four weeks of the campaign, but it remains to be seen when he will be available to the Texans even when healthy. 
Last week, Ward was placed on the commissioner’s exempt list pending the outcome of his legal case. The 34-year-old was arrested in June on an assault family violence charge, which is a third-degree felony. An arrest also took place in August after Ward violated the conditions of his bail by consuming alcohol. The matter of the family violence charge is now set to be presented to a grand jury.
“We are prepared to present a strong packet to the grand jury to show that Jimmie should not be indicted,” Ward’s attorney Steve Jackson said in a pair of statements to KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson. “We believe we have strong information and facts to assist the grand jury to no-bill Mr. Ward.”
Jackson’s submission is due tomorrow, and it is currently scheduled to be presented to the grand jury later this week. The outcome of that process will determine if the criminal case proceeds or if Ward is no-billed and charges are therefore dropped. Regardless of how that plays out, Ward will also have a civil suit stemming from the alleged incident to attend to.
The commissioner’s exempt list is generally reserved for domestic violence cases, so it comes as little surprise Ward finds himself on it for the time being. The 11-year veteran is prohibited from practicing or playing while on the list, although he was slated to begin the year with a reserve/PUP designation anyway. Ward will thus be sidelined during September while recovering from offseason foot surgery.
The longtime 49ers defensive back has one year remaining on his contract and he is owed $3.25MM in 2025. It remains to be seen when Ward will be eligible to return to the Texans’ active roster (if at all), but clarity on his criminal case emerge shortly.