FRIDAY, 12:20pm: Washington has placed Culliver on injured reserve, officially ending his season, tweets Tarik El-Bashir of CSNMidAtlantic.com.
THURSDAY, 2:09pm: An MRI confirmed that Culliver has a torn MCL and ACL, a source tells Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter).
2:05pm: Washington officials fear that cornerback Chris Culliver suffered a torn ACL in practice, according to a source who spoke with Liz Clarke of The Washington Post (on Twitter). Culliver, an offseason addition, was Washington’s highest paid free agent in the spring.
Back in March, Washington inked Culliver to a four-year deal paying him about $8MM per year, just below the annual rates earned by fellow free agent corners Brandon Flowers and Kareem Jackson. One of two Niners starting cornerbacks eligible for free agency, along with Perrish Cox, Culliver was coming off his first full season as a starter in San Francisco. The 27-year-old adapted to the new role in SF admirably, recording 45 tackles, four interceptions, and 15 passes defended.
Culliver also limited opposing quarterbacks to a completion percentage of 50.7% and a 66.5 passer rating when they threw into his coverage in 2014, according to Pro Football Focus. PFF’s grades placed Culliver as the 14th-best cornerback out of 108 qualified players. This season, Culliver started six games for Washington, tallying 16 tackles and one pass deflection.
Culliver was ranked No. 24 in PFR’s Top 50 Free Agents list for the 2015 offseason.
This is a brutal blow to a team that suddenly has a chance at the playoffs when just about no one considered them to finish above third in the division. Washington being in this position, though. Without their No. 1 corner, more will fall on Bashaud Breeland and DeAngelo Hall may have to return to corner exclusively after experimenting at safety recently. That’s not a good sign for Washington’s ability to deter wideouts.