Washington Football Team: Reported reason behind Jimmy Moreland release is difficult to swallow
By Jerry Trotta
With NFL preseason over and the 53-man roster deadline officially a thing of the past, we can finally look ahead to the regular season.
Before we do that, however, we simply have to react to one of the Washington Football Team’s more surprising moves on Tuesday.
It goes without saying Peyton Barber’s release, which was a huge vote of confidence in Antonio Gibson, veteran safety Jeremy Reaves getting cut and the release of Antonio Gandy-Golden stood out among the rest.
However, we were equally stunned by the release of Jimmy Moreland, who’s played 30 games (10 starts) for Washington over the last two years.
We’ve been having trouble wrapping our minds around the decision, and the details behind Moreland’s release didn’t help the cause.
The 26-year-old CB was waived with an injury designation. The injury? A knee bruise, per Ben Standig of The Athletic, and he’s expected back for Week 1.
An explanation on the Jimmy Moreland cut.. https://t.co/sJTDgiuCsq
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) August 31, 2021
Football Team: Jimmy Moreland’s release makes even less sense now
Somebody make it make sense, because Moreland is going to have a new NFL home before the end of the week.
So did the Football Team pull the plug on Moreland because of the injury? Or did the injury –which, again, is as minor as it gets — just give them extra incentive to make the move because they weren’t thrilled with his development?
The latter scenario is more feasible, but it still doesn’t justify the move. We know Kendall Fuller and William Jackson are locked in as the starters on the perimeter, with Benjamin St-Juste expected to play a significant role.
Behind them, however, the Football Team has Torry McTyer, who was fantastic in camp and deserved to make the team. Darryl Roberts also turned in a great performance in the final two preseason games, and it sounds like he was one of the few players who forced the coaching staff’s hand against the Ravens.
Ron Rivera said they cut Barber because of the emergence of Jaret Patterson. With Moreland, a lot was due to how well Torry McTyer played. Also: Darryl Roberts’ strong last two games was a factor too.
— John Keim (@john_keim) August 31, 2021
While we love that Ron Rivera is running a meritocracy, Moreland is a player who’s enjoyed success in Jack Del Rio’s defense. For starters, he logged an elite 72.4 run defense grade last season, per Pro Football Focus.
Moreland also played 518 snaps in the nickel corner position in 2020. Though Benjamin St-Juste looks to be an immediate impact player in the secondary, is he really ready to log significant snaps as a rookie? We hope so.
What about Troy Apke? He’s headed for a reduced role in 2021 after he started seven games a season ago. Was it really necessary to keep the fourth-year safety over Moreland, a cornerback with a ball-hawking knack who’s capable of lining up both in the slot and perimeter?
Maybe we’re overreacting, but if that’s the case, then so were hundreds of Washington fans on Twitter when they caught wind of the news.
