Redskins sign DE Marquis Flowers to roster, two others to practice squad

The Redskins have made a signing for the final week of the 2018 season.

After losing to the Tennessee Titans 25-16 in Week 16, the Washington Redskins have officially fallen out of the 2018 playoff race. With one game left in the regular season, Washington’s work is almost over. And their focus for the rest of their failed campaign has changed.

Now, as opposed to winning games, the Redskins main objective is to evaluate. Which unheralded players may be worth keeping around in the future? Who can flash in a small sample size, to warrant another chance down the line?

The Redskins will work to figure that out in Week 17. Aside from knocking their division rivals, the Eagles, out of the playoffs, that is the primary objective. And earlier today, Washington added another player to evaluate, as injuries continue to thin their defensive line: Former Patriots and Lions defensive end Marquis Flowers.

Flowers, a sixth-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, fits in Washington’s defense as an outside linebacker. At 6-foot-3, 245, Flowers has decent size as an edge rusher. His record of production is less consistent. His only season in which he even saw the field as a starter was 2017, when he logged 3.5 sacks with the Patriots. With the Redskins’ pending questions at edge rusher, Flowers’ acquisition is intriguing, at the very least.

In addition to bringing in Flowers, the Redskins also signed two wide receivers to their practice squad: 2017 draft picks ArDarius Stewart and Carlos Henderson. Stewart was a third-round pick for the New York Jets, from Alabama, while Henderson was a third-round pick for the Denver Broncos. Neither receiver panned out for their respective teams, but both have potential, and having them in the organization will come at a very low cost, with the potential for eventual rewards.