Of the many needs that the Washington Redskins have on their roster, one that they’ve addressed the most so far during this free agency period is at the linebacker position. In the last few days, Washington has agreed to sign Thomas Davis, Kevin Pierre-Louis, and Jon Bostic.
These players will join, or re-join in Bostic’s case, the group consisting of Cole Holcomb, Shaun Dion-Hamilton, and Josh Harvey-Clemons in 2020, assuming everyone is healthy and ready to go. But what about Reuben Foster? Shouldn’t he be included on this list too?
It’s starting to seem pretty unlikely.
Remember first that, during his first practice in a Redskins uniform, Foster suffered a devastating knee injury that kept him out of the entire 2019 season. Near the end of the year, a report came out that the former first-round pick had just started to regain feeling in his foot after dealing with extensive nerve damage. Now, without a clear timetable for his return, and with the regime who signed him out the door, things have changed.
The future is starting to seem pretty grim, and according to NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay, a return before this season seems unlikely.
“Now, with Allen out of the picture and Rivera focused on rebuilding the Redskins through a strong culture, it seems unlikely Foster is a big part of the long-term plan, especially with his medical questions,” Finlay said. “Removing all of the off-field baggage, this scenario could look very similar to Josh Doctson’s 2019 season. He was going into the last year of his rookie contract and Washington decided not to exercise the fifth-year rookie option.”
So could we see a scenario where the Redskins cut ties with Foster altogether before the 2020 season gets underway? It’s highly possible. The Redskins are bringing in free-agent linebackers left and right, and it would seem to be that they are looking ahead without Foster on the depth chart.
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