RICHMOND — The Washington Redskins are parting ways with Orlando Scandrick, but Coach Jay Gruden said the move was a result of their confidence in the young cornerbacks on the roster, and not because of the play of the veteran.
“When we initially signed Orlando, we had just lost Kendall and it was before the draft and we drafted [seventh-rounder Greg] Stroman, and we have Adonis [Alexander] and I think the emergence of Danny Johnson, Fabian Moreau at nickel, we wanted to get these guys reps at nickel and Dunbar at corner, and move on,” Coach Jay Gruden said Tuesday. “So give Orlando ample time to get on another team before the season started.”
Scandrick, 31, signed a two-year deal in March (which included a $1 million signing bonus) after he was cut by the Dallas Cowboys, the team that drafted him in 2008.
Josh Holsey is another young cornerback in the mix for Washington, but he will start the year on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list after suffering a foot injury this offseason. But he is very much a part of the Redskins’ plans going forward, according to their coach. And despite having a secondary made up of mostly of young, inexperienced talent, Gruden said he has complete confidence in their ability to jump right into the action: “I’ve been very impressed with them all. Obviously, Adonis not as much because he just got here and he’s been hurt. But he’s got the skill set that we’ve noticed, as far as your sixth corner, I think can be a very good guy in your building to have and develop.”
Although the front office is confident in their secondary, Gruden didn’t rule out the possibility of adding another free agent cornerback.
“We still have time,” he said. “If it doesn’t work out, or somebody gets injured, we still have time to make moves also ourselves. … We’re going to go with what we have. We may sign another here shortly.”
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