Well that’s odd. Per Wednesday’s update to the daily transactions wire, the New Orleans Saints released veteran running back Dwayne Washington. The 28-year old appeared in 57 games with the Saints since joining them back in 2018, having spent the first two years of his career with the Detroit Lions.
Washington left the team’s Aug. 16 practice early with an undisclosed injury, and he hadn’t been spotted often at the facility in the weeks since. It’s possible he needs a four-week rest on injured reserve to heal up and aim for an early-season return, but at this point we just don’t know. For what it’s worth, the Saints did not release Washington with an injury designation, as is typical in these moves to IR, so he could just be moving on. He could be moving down to the practice squad. So stay tuned for updates on this front.
In any event: the running backs left on the 53-man roster include Alvin Kamara, Mark Ingram II, and Tony Jones Jr., along with fullback Adam Prentice. The only runners on the practice squad are fullback/tight end J.P. Holtz and wide receiver Kirk Merritt, who got some snaps in the backfield late in the summer. Ingram looked like he was running with fresh legs in the Saints’ preseason finale, but with the free agent market thinning out quickly New Orleans may struggle to add more depth behind him and Kamara.
