Redskins reach injury settlements with 3 players from Injured Reserve

The Washington Redskins have released three players that they had on IR, including Martez Carter and Elijah Wellman.

The Redskins have made some moves early this preseason that haven’t necessarily sat well with all the fans. After a number of their RBs went down, the squad elected to waive Martez Carter with an injury designation despite having few healthy running backs on the roster. At the time, it was presumed to be because of the injury, but it remains possible that Carter will play at some point this season.

These notions were confirmed on Friday afternoon when the Redskins made a few important roster moves. The team elected to waive Carter, fullback Elijah Wellman, and offensive lineman Cameron Jefferson from the IR via injury settlements, according to ESPN’s John Keim. These moves were necessary for the Redskins as the settlements will likely save them money as opposed to stashing the players on IR for a majority of the season.

Of that trio, Carter and Wellman were the more well-regarded players. There had been some buzz that Carter could be a practice squad candidate while some thought that Wellman would have a chance to make the roster as a fullback. However, the Redskins obviously didn’t see enough from either to keep them around long-term, and that’s why they released them from IR.

As for Jefferson, he was always just a camp body with a very outside chance of making the practice squad thanks to the weak interior offensive line of the Redskins. That said, he rarely impressed and his departure was no surprise.

Moving forward, it seems highly likely that the Redskins will continue to make roster moves to sift through available pieces that could help their team over the course of the season. On of their mid-camp signings, J.P. Holtz, is already looking like a potential practice squad player or maybe even a fourth tight end/fullback hybrid, so that type of turnover can help to unearth gems.

For now, these moves make a lot of sense. It will be interesting to see if Carter or Wellman is able to latch on anywhere else. But either way, the Redskins weren’t going to keep them so these losses are fairly minimal.