Washington Roster Moves: Darrick Forrest to IR, David Mayo re-signed to the roster

The Washington Football Team cut 27 players on Tuesday to get the roster down to 53 players as they prepare for Week 1 against the Los Angeles Chargers. The NFL implemented some rules last season as the world dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic that make rosters much more flexible. One of them was the new injured reserve rule that allows players to miss only 3 weeks on short-term IR. This allows teams to stash players with minor injuries while adding a player from their 16-man practice squad, or signing someone from outside the organization to fill a roster need.

This also makes the initial 53-man rosters a lot more fluid since players have to be placed on IR after the cutdown deadline to take advantage of the short-term IR rules. If they go on IR before the deadline they are shut down for the year. Washington chose to only keep 4 LBs on their initial 53-man roster which was a big neon sign saying another move would be coming at the position. There was a rumor that the team was pursuing former Texans LB Benardrick McKinney, but nothing has happened there yet.

The team made their move on Wednesday and re-signed LB David Mayo to the 53-man roster. A lot of people thought he had a good shot at making the team as depth, but Washington needed him off the roster to protect Darrick Forrest. The rookie safety was placed on IR with a hamstring injury. He will be able to return to practice after 3 weeks, and the team will have 21 days to evaluate him when he returns. He will be eligible to play in Week 4 against the Falcons at the earliest.