Washington Football Team rounds out practice squad by signing three

The Washington Football Team’s practice squad is now full after the signings of David Steinmetz, Cole Luke, and Shelton Gibson.

On the final Sunday without football before the NFL season, the Washington Football Team added 13 men to their practice squad. They were as follows:

DE Jordan Brailford
WR Tony Brown
CB Aaron Colvin
G Joshua Garnett
TE Hale Hentges
QB Steven Montez
LB Jared Norris
DE Nate Orchard
LB Donald Payne
C Ross Pierschbacher
S Jeremy Reaves
WR Cam Sims
DL David Bada

The moves were unsurprising. All of the players that Washington had retained were fringe roster candidates that had been with the team for most of the offseason. Notably, Hentges, Sims, Brailford, and Garnett all came close to making the roster, so getting them to stick around was certainly a big deal.

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After all those signings, Washington still had some open spots on the practice squad, but according to the team’s official website, they have now completed the unit.

On Monday, Washington confirmed that they had signed three more players to the practice squad. They were:

OT David Steinmetz
S Cole Luke
WR Shelton Gibson

Steinmetz, a 6-foot-7 tackle, had signed with the team shortly after being cut by the Houston Texans. Keeping him around as a reserve tackle makes sense, especially since fellow practice squad candidate Timon Parris was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Falcons.

As for the other two players, Luke and Gibson, they were astute pickups. Luke spent three years with Ron Rivera on the Carolina Panthers, and he appeared in eight games during the 2019 season. Luke played 24.5 percent of the snaps on special teams and will provide depth as a special teams backup on the practice squad. At just 25, the former Notre Dame product does still have upside too, so he’s an ideal player to keep around.

Meanwhile, Gibson was a good pickup considering two things. First of all, Washington is obviously thin at the receiver position. Gibson, 25, was a former 2017 fifth-round pick and while he has only three career catches for 59 yards, he will provide organizational depth and could emerge with proper coaching.

The bigger point, of course, is that Gibson was a member of the Philadelphia Eagles for the past three years, including this offseason. Washington is playing Philadelphia in Week 1, so perhaps Gibson will have some tips on the team’s weaknesses. That could be extra valuable considering that there wasn’t a preseason in 2020, but it also may be overthinking the value of Gibson.

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These moves are rock-solid ones for Washington. They are continuing to build up experienced depth and have options that can come onto the active roster and play roles in the event of injuries or illnesses. We’ll soon see if there is any more roster reshuffling to do but if this is it, Washington has done a nice job of reshaping the look of their team.

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