New Washington Redskins head coach Ron Rivera has spent the past week revamping his roster, and on Monday he made the decision to release five defensive backs. Along with former starting safety Montae Nicholson, Washington also announced they had released cornerbacks Breon Borders, Dee Delaney, Coty Sensabaugh and Kayvon Webster.
While Borders, Delaney, Sensabaugh and Webster had limited action with the Redskins last season, Nicholson started in all 13 games he played in at safety. He put up career numbers all across the board, recording 61 combined tackles, four passes defensed and two interceptions.
Nicholson did carry some off-field baggage, however, as he was arrested in December 2018 after he and a woman allegedly assaulted a man and woman in Ashburn, Virginia. Back in November of 2019, Nicholson was also allegedly part of a tragic incident in which a 21-year-old woman died of an apparent drug overdose in Ashburn. Nicholson and another man took the woman to the Inova Emergency Room-Ashburn HealthPlex and immediately left, according to court documents obtained by NBC4 Washington. Family members of the deceased woman protested outside of Redskins games last season.
In 35 career games, Nicholson recorded 126 combined tackles, seven passes defensed and three interceptions. He was selected by the Redskins in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Michigan State.
Last week, the Redskins signed former Pittsburgh Steelers safety Sean Davis, which appeared to put Nicholson's starting job in jeopardy. The versatile defensive back is a D.C. native and has experience starting at several different positions in the secondary.
With Josh Norman no longer a Redskin and Quinton Dunbar's future up in the air, the Redskins still have some work to do at the cornerback position, but Rivera clearly felt comfortable moving on from these four players. This was not the only big move the Redskins made on Monday, as they also gave up a fifth-round pick for former Carolina Panthers quarterback Kyle Allen.
