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The Washington Redskins have made a roster move to their 53-man roster, waiving defensive lineman Anthony Lanier and signing defensive lineman Caleb Brantley.
Brantley was a sixth-round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 2017 out Florida. He had early-round talent but at the time of the draft, he was facing battery charges for allegedly knocking a woman unconscious in Gainesville, Fla. Charges were later dropped.
Brantley made the Browns team as a rookie and appeared in 12 games for the winless team, recording 18 tackles and two sacks. He was waived during the final cuts on Saturday by Cleveland, making him available for the Redskins to sign.
#Redskins sign DL Caleb Brantley. In a corresponding move, Redskins waive DL Anthony Lanier II designated as injured.https://t.co/7jkqZFJJKd pic.twitter.com/ZMvAzoXrup
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) September 3, 2018
The move to release Lanier comes a bit surprising — although officially the Redskins are waiving him with an injury designation — considering the Alabama A&M product appeared to hatch on to the Redskins after going undrafted in 2016. He made the team as a rookie and appeared in four games.
In 2017, he played in 11 games for the Redskins and recorded five sacks, six pass deflections, and one forced fumble. He became a strong part of the the Redskins’ nickel and dime sub-packages. However, Redskins head coach Jay Gruden pointed to Brantley’s versatility against the run and pass as a motive for the roster move, per John Keim of ESPN.
Brantley joins a defensive line that is deep with talent led by the Alabama stud duos Jonathan Allen and rookie Daron Payne, the Redskins first-round picks each of the last two years. They’re joined by Matt Ioannidis, rookie Tim Settle Jr., and the savvy veteran Ziggy Hood.
The Redskins hope this young and versatile defensive line can boost an improvement along the defense that ranked last in the NFL against the run in 2017.
