Redskins sign fullback Michael Burton, place tight end Jerome Cunningham on IR
The Washington Redskins signed fullback Michael Burton to the active roster, replacing tight end Jerome Cunningham who was placed on IR.
On Tuesday, the Redskins did something that truly signified that the Jay Gruden era is over. They signed a fullback to their active roster.
According to the Redskins official Twitter account, the team has signed Michael Burton to their 53-man roster. To make room for Burton, they placed tight end Jerome Cunningham on season-ending IR.
Burton, 27, played collegiately at Rutgers and was selected by the Detroit Lions in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft. Since that time, he has spent two seasons with the Lions and two with the Bears, serving mostly as a solid blocker. In his career, he has nine catches for 53 yards and a touchdown while he has run the ball eight times for 11 yards.
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Burton doesn’t figure to be much of a weapon out of the backfield, but his presence signifies that the Redskins are shifting to more of a run-dominant offense. Bill Callahan may choose to run more plays out of the I-formation and Burton could find success as a lead blocker for Adrian Peterson.
After running without a fullback for the better part of five seasons, it’s nice to see the team is at least giving it a shot once again. That said, it’s unfortunate this didn’t happen sooner, as they could have given tight end/fullback hybrid J.P. Holtz more of chance. Alas, that isn’t the case, but it will still be interesting to see how Burton fares.
As for Cunningham, he suffered a knee injury in the Redskins’ win over the Dolphins and it didn’t look good. He was signed to provide depth at the position when both Jordan Reed and Vernon Davis dealing with concussions.
That said, Cunningham’s loss won’t be a major deal, as Davis seems likely to return soon and resume his role as starter. Jeremy Sprinkle would then become the top backup with Hale Hentges, who was recently claimed off waivers from the Colts, serving as the third-string option.
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We’ll see if this move has an impact on the ‘Skins. But at the very least, it does reflect a short-term ideological shift for the team that ran without a fullback for five-plus seasons under Gruden.