Redskins make roster moves, place Montae Nicholson on IR

With the final week of the 2019 regular season coming into focus, the Redskins have made roster moves to compensate for injuries.

In Week 17, there are two kinds of teams: The teams that have something to play for, and the teams that don’t. The Washington Redskins fall in the latter category, but they still have to field a full squad for the game action. Thus, with a roster hampered by injuries, moves have to occur, even in this stage of the season.

The Washington Redskins made several roster moves in accordance with injuries today, primarily in the secondary. Per ESPN reporter John Keim, the Redskins have placed safety Montae Nicholson and cornerback Fabian Moreau on injured reserve, ending their 2019 seasons. In a coinciding move with Nicholson’s relegation to injured reserve, the Redskins have also signed free agent safety Kenny Ladler, per Matthew Paras of the Washington Times.

Nicholson’s season ends on a low note; the Michigan State product started the season relatively well, amassing two interceptions and four pass deflections in the first seven weeks of the 2019 campaign. After that, however, Nicholson fell off the map, both due to on-field inconsistency and off-field issues. He missed four weeks in the middle of the season, and was a marginal contributor who compounded the team’s communication mishaps.

Fabian Moreau’s season also ends in a trough; the former third-round pick missed the start of season due to injury, and was largely ineffective for a large portion of the year. He exploded for two weeks toward the end, logging three interceptions and three pass deflections through Weeks 12 and 13. After that, however, he disappeared again, and missed Week 16 with another injury.

With two more starters gone, the Redskins secondary will be extremely thin in Week 17. Washington placed Quinton Dunbar and Danny Johnson on injured reserve earlier in the week, and rookie Jimmy Moreland was placed on injured reserve a week prior. With Josh Norman still benched, no Week 1 starters will start for Washington in Week 17.

Moreau and Nicholson both have exceptional physical profiles, but their development has not gone as planned in Ashburn. In an offseason where drastic steps might be taken to forge a new future in D.C., the long-term outlooks of both players are incredibly uncertain.

Ladler, the team’s newest safety with Nicholson gone, is a familiar face in D.C. He was one of our Redskins Unheralded Players last season, and he played five games in a burgundy jersey. Ladler isn’t fast, but he’s tough and physical, and he could catch some eyes in the team’s season finale, if he’s afforded the opportunity.