Washington Roster Moves: WR Robert Foster signed from Packers practice squad

Update: Foster has officially been signed, but won't be available until after the bye to play due to COVID-19 protocols. TE Marcus Baugh has been released. TE Temarrick Hemingway was also signed from the practice squad after being elevated from the practice squad the last two weeks.

The Washington Football Team is reportedly signing WR Robert Foster from the Green Bay Packers practice squad. Foster (6'2", 196 lbs) was an undrafted free agent from Alabama that was signed by the Buffalo Bills in 2018. He started 3 games in his rookie year, and had 27 receptions for 541 yards and 3 TDs. Last year he started 2 games, but only had 3 receptions for 64 yards. He was released at final cutdowns, and added to the Packers practice squad a few days later.

Washington has a big need a wide receiver due to a growing list of injuries at the position. Kelvin Harmon tore his ACL while training, and Emanuel Hall tore his Achilles doing the same thing during the COVID-19 offseason. Steven Sims Jr. was placed on IR two weeks ago for a toe injury.

This week saw 4th round rookie Antonio Gandy-Golden go down with a hamstring injury that Ron Rivera said could cause him to miss a few games. Undrafted rookie Isaiah Wright also exited the game late with a shoulder injury.

Rivera said it would be difficult to get a player to come in on short notice due to the NFL's 6 day protocol for COVID-19 testing. Washington successfully put in a waiver claim for DE Casey Toohill on October 11th, but couldn't officially add him to the active roster until October 20th.

This means a few things for the team. Foster won't be active this week when Washington hosts the Dallas Cowboys. He will be available in Week 9 when they host the New York Giants. That means they will have Terry McLaurin, Dontrelle Inman, Cam Sims, and probably Isaiah Wright available on Sunday. Gandy-Golden will likely be out a few weeks based on Rivera's comment and could go on short-term IR, depending on the severity of the injury. Steven Sims Jr. should be back after the bye, but we haven't heard anything official yet. This puts Robert Foster as the #5 or #6 WR on the roster for Week 9.

This also means that Washington will need a body or two available at WR this week, and that will have to come from the practice squad. Washington protected the maximum of 4 players earlier this week and two of them were WRs. The team is allowed to elevate two players from the practice squad every week, which means Tony Brown and Jeff Badet could both be called up on Sunday.

Washington has a few options to manipulate their roster this week. With Gandy-Golden expected to miss a few weeks and Saahdiq Charles possibly being healthy enough to return after the bye week, you have two players to could be stashed to open up roster spots. Washington has elevated TE Tamarrick Hemingway two weeks in a row, and had him active over Marcus Baugh this week. If he they want him available as another receiving option, he will also need to be signed to the main roster. Decisions, decisions...