Redskins Sign Ron Brace

The Redskins added to their defensive line depth with the signing of former New England Patriot 2nd rounder NT Ron Brace. The Redskins press release announcing the signing highlighted the following:

Brace (6-3, 330) was originally selected by the New England Patriots in the second round (No. 40 overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. He has appeared in 39 career regular season games with seven starts. For his career, STATS, LLC credits him with 39 tackles (24 solo) and one forced fumble. He was released by the Patriots on Dec. 29, 2012.

Brace played collegiately at Boston College from 2004-08, starting 40 of the 49 career games in which he appeared. He recorded 85 tackles (50 solo), including 23 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks during his Eagle career and earned All-ACC second team honors following his senior season in 2008.

Brace has been considered a pretty big bust in New England, both due to his lack of production on the field and his inability to stay on it. Brace drew quite a bit of ire from Bill Belicheck about his lack of a work ethic and missing so much training camp time in the past.

While that doesn't bode well for the Redskins, this is a no risk signing for them as I can't imagine there is much (if any) guaranteed money involved. If Brace is healthy and gets his act together he could end up being a solid back-up at the very least. He's listed as a nose tackle, which gives the Redskins some depth there with Chris Neild recovering from a torn ACL and Chris Baker a restricted free agent (and perhaps not as affordable). While it is too early to speculate on his chances of making the roster, Brace does without a doubt bring upside to the table.