Redskins To Sign RB Peyton Barber

Free agency action has resumed Tuesday afternoon, and another running back is off the board. Peyton Barber will sign with the Redskins, Josina Anderson of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter).

The former Buccaneers starter agreed to a two-year, $3MM deal that comes with $600K guaranteed, per Anderson. Barber will join Adrian Peterson and Derrius Guice in a suddenly crowded Washington backfield. This deal may have been in the works for a few days, with The Athletic’s Greg Auman tweeting Sunday that Barber was finalizing a contract.

Barber started 28 games with the Bucs, 23 of those coming over the past two seasons, but fell out of favor during Bruce Arians‘ first season. The 26-year-old ex-UDFA started 16 games in Dirk Koetter‘s final season but lost his job to Ronald Jones last year. Barber, who led the Bucs in 2018 with 871 rushing yards, averaged just 3.1 yards per carry on 154 totes in 2019.

The Auburn alum has never topped 115 receiving yards in a season, however. With Peterson also mostly a run downs-only back, the Redskins appear set to devote at least half of their backfield resources to players who are not accomplished passing-game weapons.

In addition to their most notable incumbents, the Redskins also have the recently added J.D. McKissic and 2019 draftee Bryce Love in the fold. Their roster certainly will not have room for all five backs, which will make for an interesting competition when the Redskins reconvene for 2020 work.

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