Washington releases five players, trims roster to 80 originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Washington Football Team released five players on Tuesday, trimming its roster to the required 80 players ahead of the 4 p.m. deadline.
Cornerback Jordan Brown, offensive tackle Rick Leonard, linebacker Justin Phillips and defensive tackle Justus Reed were all officially released on Tuesday morning. Center Jon Toth was the final player to be released on Tuesday, a move that was announced following practice.
A seventh-round pick by the Bengals in 2019, Brown was released during final roster cuts. He would spend time on both the Jaguars’ and Raiders’ practice squads over the next two seasons before joining Washington’s practice squad in November of 2020. He has never played in an NFL game.
Like Brown, Leonard has spent his entire NFL career on practice squads since he was a fourth-round pick in 2018. Washington was his fifth NFL organization he had been a part of but has never played in a regular-season game.
Phillips, an undrafted free agent in 2019, was waived during Dallas’ final roster cuts. He was signed to the Raiders practice squad, where he spent the first part of rookie season, before being promoted to the active roster following Vontaze Burfict’s suspension. Phillips appeared in four games before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Phillips was signed to Washington’s practice squad in November of 2020.
Reed, an undrafted rookie who spent seven years at Virginia Tech, was originally signed by the Titans in May. He was waived in June and signed with Washington. He’ll now hope to land elsewhere to kickstart his NFL career.
Toth, who was signed on Aug. 9, spent part of last season on the Lions’ practice squad. Since 2017, he’s been a part of three different practice squads but has never played in a regular-season game, either.
All NFL teams must trim their roster to 53 players by 4 p.m. on Aug. 31. Practice squads will be filled out in the days following final roster cuts.