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Redskins re-sign defensive lineman Phil Taylor

The Washington Redskins announced Tuesday that they have re-signed defensive lineman Phil Taylor. Details of the deal are listed below.

Taylor (6-3, 343) was brought in last year to compete primarily at nose tackle but injured his left quadriceps in the weeks leading up to the season and spent the year on the injured reserve. The move to injured reserve marked the third consecutive year that Taylor hasn’t played a single snap in the NFL. The last time he took the field in an official game was for Cleveland in 2014, he played in five games that year, recording ten tackles.

ESPN’s John Keim had this to say on Twitter about Taylor, “Nose tackle Phil Taylor did not receive a signing bonus, which means he’ll have to make the final roster in order to make money from his new deal. That’s not surprising given that Taylor hasn’t played since 2014 and is coming off yet another injury. If he makes the roster, Taylor will make $790,000 but count only $630,000 vs. the cap. He looked good in camp before his injury and the Redskins are hoping he can return and play the same way. But they also won’t stop looking for more defensive line help.”

The Redskins, in all likelihood, will select a player in this year’s draft that will play a significant role along the defensive line. The Taylor signing should be viewed as a move made for depth as at this point Taylor doesn’t offer the team a dependable starter with all the injury issues he has gone through the past few years.

The Cleveland Browns originally drafted Phil Taylor in the first round (21st overall) of the 2011 NFL Draft. He has appeared in 44 career regular season games with 42 starts, tallying 109 tackles (69 solo), 7.0 sacks, three passes defensed, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery but hasn’t seen any action since 2014 due to injuries.
[Featured Image via Redskins.com]