Amari Spievey arrested following dispute over child support, according to report

Given all of the off-field issues Detroit Lions players had last offseason, it's extremely important for them to stay out of trouble this offseason. The Lions can't let off-field issues become a distraction like last year, and up until this week, there hadn't been any problems.

Unfortunately, that is no longer the case. Lions safety Amari Spievey was arrested on Tuesday and charged with third-degree assault, risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct, according to the Middletown Press. The arrest apparently happened after there was a dispute over child support between Spievey and his girlfriend, who was also charged with risk of injury to a child and disorderly conduct. Here are the details on the incident:

Santos is accused of pushing Spievey while he was holding their daughter, and he pushed her back, according to police. She then tried to take the child away from him, but he pushed her until she stumbled against a counter, according to police.

Spievey told police Santos grabbed his throat with her right hand and he had to push her hand away. He also told police she threw a "flurry of punches at his chest." Spievey allegedly told police he already gives Santos child support and that he will pay anything for his daughter, but he will not pay for Santos to "go shopping and pay off her student loans," according to police.

Spievey just re-signed with the Lions two weeks ago. He got a one-year deal worth $630,000, and the Lions brought him back with the expectation that he would compete for a backup job at safety. Given that Spievey has been arrested, his status with the team is without a doubt up in the air going forward.

The Lions need to be very smart about how they handle this situation considering how many problems they dealt with off the field last year. On the one hand, it might be unfair to simply release Spievey without waiting for the legal process to play out given the nature of this incident. Then again, releasing him would send a message that the Lions have zero tolerance for players getting in any kind of trouble. It will be interesting to see what they decide to do with Spievey.