Washington releases LB Shaun Dion Hamilton after three seasons

The Washington Football Team is moving on from linebacker Shaun Dion Hamilton. The team is releasing Hamilton after three seasons.

Hamilton was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 21 with an elbow injury. Washington had hoped to get him back if the team advanced to the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. Now, the former Alabama linebacker has been released.

Washington selected Hamilton in the sixth round of the 2018 NFL Draft. A torn ACL suffered in the 2016 SEC Championship Game led to him falling in the draft.

While he had his flashes with Washington, he never quite panned into a core player. He started four games as a rookie, but was relegated to special teams throughout much of his time with Washington.

His best season came in 2019 when he played on 34% of Washington’s defensive snaps. He posted 49 tackles. Additionally, he allowed 12 completions on 24 pass targets and 3.0 yards per target, according to Pro-Football Reference.

However, this season he didn’t seem to fit in his first year under head coach Ron Rivera and defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio. The switch from a 3-4 base to 4-3 displaced Hamilton and he slid behind Kevin Pierre-Louis and Cole Holcomb on the depth chart at outside linebacker.

Hamilton appeared on 10% of Washington’s defensive snaps in 2020. He allowed 7-of-8 targets and 10.5 yards per target, a vast difference from 2019. In three seasons, Hamilton appeared in 46 games, including seven starts with Washington.