Why spend the night at the Hilton when you can stay at the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Jail?

That’s the trade 49ers’ linebacker Reuben Foster made Saturday night after he was arrested on charges of domestic violence — again.

And if this isn’t the final straw — the thing that gets the 49ers to cut ties with the troubled linebacker — then clearly general manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan didn’t mean a damn word they said about accountability and zero tolerance towards domestic violence the last time Foster was arrested for domestic violence.

First, a disclaimer for all of those who feel so inclined to defend the honor of Foster and the NFL team that (for the time being) employs him: I don’t know what happened at the team hotel Saturday night and neither do you.

Tampa police say that Foster and his on-and-off girlfriend had an altercation at the 49ers team hotel, during which she claims “Foster slapped her phone out of her hand, pushed her in the chest area, and slapped her with an open hand on the side of her face.”

Tampa police officers said observed a one inch scratch on the victim’s left collarbone.

Is that the full story? No.

Could that story change? We’ve certainly seen it before.

Does it look good for Foster? No sir.

But how it looks shouldn’t matter when it comes to Foster’s employment with the Niners.

The cut-and-dry of the situation is that the 49ers’ brass announced publicly, multiple times over the last year, that Foster was on his proverbial last strike.

There’s no circumstance where getting arrested at the team hotel isn’t a strike.

Again, I don’t know what he did or didn’t do, but under no circumstances is he a victim in this scenario — despite what many, I’m sure, will allege. He made a remarkably dumb decision (the extent of which is still unknown, it could get dumber) and wound up in jail, held without bail.

This guy was told to stay out of trouble — that he didn’t have another chance to screw up — and he was arrested at the team hotel, possibly in an altercation with the same woman who accused him of domestic violence in February.

It’s patently absurd. No matter what actually happened, this is unquestionably a grade-a act of stupidity. There’s no good reason for Foster to be in that situation. It’s shameless.

How can the Niners justify keeping him on their team?

Foster might be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but he doesn’t deserve the benefit from the doubt from anyone — fans, teammates, coaches, or employers — outside of it. He used up all of that months ago.

Yes, the linebacker is talented — he has All-Pro potential — but at some point, that can’t be part of the calculus for the 49ers.

And if we’re not past that point now, we’re never going to get there.

Either way, Foster has more mug shots than memorable games in his 49ers career, so — just to be craven — what’s the real loss if they cut him?

If they keep him, I know that the loss is the credibility of a front office that has talked a big game and then hedged — hard — when faced with walking the walk in the past.

They can’t hedge twice and expect to maintain that fledgling credibility.

This is about principles — if you draw a line in the sand you can’t constantly re-draw it.

And certainly not for Foster. This guy has proven time and time again that he’s not worth the slack the 49ers have cut him.

There’s no purpose in re-litigating Foster’s domestic violence arrest in February — he had the charges dropped, but that doesn’t mean the arrest didn’t happen. He served a two-game suspension at the start of the season.

And so now, there’s no more room to hedge: by getting arrested Saturday, Foster just filled out a pink slip of any reputable organization.

So are the 49ers a reputable organization?