Former Commanders LB Jon Bostic signs with potential Wild Card rival

There’s going to be a ton of roster shuffling happening around the NFL in the coming days and weeks as teams strive to trim rosters to 53 players. The first round of cuts is this week and the Washington Commanders will have some tough decisions to make as their offseason roster must be cut from 90 to 85 players.

Just because it’s roster cutdown season doesn’t mean teams won’t sign players to improve their depth for the preseason. Even the Commanders have signed players, including defensive back Steven Parker, who shined against the Panthers on Saturday, and wideout Matt Cole, who had the team’s longest kick return.

Coming into the week, three Washington starters from last season — guard Ereck Flowers and linebackers Landon Collins and Jon Bostic — were still unsigned.

One domino fell Monday when the Saints signed Bostic a string of roster moves, leaving Flowers and Collins as the only starters without a home.

Former Commanders linebacker Jon Bostic has signed with the Saints.

This is a great landing spot for Bostic, who routinely found himself as the punching bag of Washington fans for his limitations as a defender. In fairness, some of that criticism was warranted as Bostic’s 30.2 coverage grade in 2021 would’ve ranked 86th of 87 linebackers had he played enough snaps, according to PFF.

Signed as a free agent in 2019, Bostic spent three seasons in Ashburn. He started four games last year at middle linebacker before a torn pectoral muscle suffered in Week 4 ended his season prematurely. Fans were calling for his job before the injury, but the LB unit didn’t show much improvement in his absence.

In New Orleans, Bostic has a great chance to make the 53-man roster. While vet Demario Davis is one of the game’s premier linebackers, fellow starter Pete Werner has been nursing a groin injury.

Funnily enough, Bostic was part of the group tryout that saw Kiko Alonso sign with the Saints before he announced his retirement. It would appear Bostic was Nola’s second choice and got bailed out by Alonso’s surprise retirement.

If Bostic manages to stick around with the Saints, he could end up fighting the Commanders for a Wild Card berth. With the Buccaneers and Cowboys/Eagles the favorites to win the NFC South and NFC East, New Orleans and Washington are widely viewed as teams who could snag one of the final Wild Card spots.

That would be quite the narrative down the stretch of the season.