The Washington Football Team is making a (relatively) significant commitment to one of their practice squad players. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that Washington will promote defensive back Cole Luke from their practice squad and sign him to a two-year deal.
It’s not every day see a team sign one of their practice squad players to a multi-year deal…especially a player who has seen only 14 NFL snaps in four professional seasons. Of course, the organization has presumably seen plenty of progression from Luke behind the scenes, and as Sam Fortier of the Washington Post points out, head coach Ron Rivera previously coached the defensive back when the two were in Carolina.
Luke, a 2017 undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame, spent most of the first three seasons of his career on the Panthers practice squad. He finally made his NFL debut in 2019, collecting three tackles in eight games. He joined Washington’s practice squad back in September.
As Fortier observes, Luke could end up seeing time at one of two positions. The coaching staff still hasn’t found a solution at safety, while Jimmy Moreland has occasionally struggled at nickle corner. The 25-year-old Luke has the versatility to fill in at either of those spots.
This may also have been done to keep him away from a rival. I hope he does well.
In Ron We Trust