Updated Depth Chart: Commanders announce multiple roster moves following Saturday night scrimmage

Washington announced several roster moves on Sunday. The tweet below details the release of 3 players and the signing of 3 others. In addition, WR Jequez Ezzard was waived with an injury designation, meaning that if he is not claimed by another team, then he will revert to the Commanders injured reserve this week.

There are no real surprises among the three releases; all three players were signed as college free agents after the draft.

The three new players address two positions of clear need (linebacker and tight end) as well as adding another safety to the mix.

Let’s take a brief look at the three new players.

LB Nathan Gerry

Nathan Gerry played linebacker and safety at Nebraska. The 6’2”, 218 pound player is similar in size to LB Khaleke Hudson and S Ferrod Gardner; he was selected in the 5th round of the 2017 draft by Philadelphia. He was released at the start of his rookie year and then re-signed to a 3-year contract and spent 3 seasons with the Eagles, ending his Philly career on IR with an ankle injury in 2020.

Gerry signed with the 49ers last year, but never made it beyond the practice squad, and was released at the start of November. He hasn’t been on an NFL team since.

PFF was never kind to Gerry, giving him overall defensive grades of 43.2, 68.2 and 48.5 in his three seasons as an Eagle.

Honestly, this signing by the Commanders is a bit of a head-scratcher. They must be seeing something from Gerry that most NFL fans never have.

S Steven Parker

The 6’1”, 210 pound Parker entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Rams in 2018. He spent his rookie season on the practice squad, but in 2019 he made the Dolphins 53-man roster and was active for 14 games, starting 4.

Source: Pro Football Reference

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Parker was waived by the Dolphins at the end of training camp in 2020. He had a cup of coffee with the Vikings, but ended up in Dallas where he moved up and down between the practice squad and the regular roster, appearing in 7 games and playing 79 defensive snaps.

Last season was more of the same for Parker — this time with the Giants. He appeared in 3 games and played 24 defensive snaps.

The Commanders are his 3rd consecutive NFC East team. If history is any guide, Parker is likely destined for a practice squad spot in Washington.

TE Eli Wolf

Wolf is a 6’4”, 238 pound tight end who played college ball at Tennessee and Georgia.

He entered the NFL as a UDFA with the Ravens in 2020, and spent his rookie season on the practice squad and injured reserve. Wolf spent the 2021 season on the Colts practice squad, and was with the Packers for OTAs and minicamp earlier this offseason.

Wolf has never played a regular season snap in the NFL.

Updated depth chart

The numbers that appear beside some players’ names are 2022 cap hits per Over the Cap.

Please note that assigned positions and color coding are my own personal opinions. They do not necessarily represent the thinking of Washington’s coaches or front office, nor are they necessarily consistent with fan consensus. This chart represents my interpretation, and may not reflect the thoughts of other writers on Hogs Haven. Finally, when it comes to backup players, I don’t put much effort into making sure that they are on the right or left or behind the specific player that they backup. I mostly just try to fit everyone on the chart efficiently.

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The roster, by my count, currently sits at 90 players, meaning that there is one roster spot available to be filled (Washington can carry 91 players right now due to the roster exemption the team gets for David Bada, who came to the team via the International Player Pathway program).

In general, Ron Rivera seems to like to fill every available spot, but with the first roster cut down scheduled for Tuesday, August 16th, when the roster needs to be trimmed by 5 players, the coaches may decide to simply go into this Saturday’s first preseason game with the current squad and evaluate the roster situation again next week.