Ahkello Witherspoon’s time with the Washington Commanders ended before it ever really began.
Washington placed the veteran cornerback on the reserve/retired list Tuesday, one day after he took first-team defensive reps during training camp. The Commanders signed veteran Fabian Moreau in a corresponding move.
The timing made the retirement notable. Witherspoon was not simply a veteran buried on the depth chart. He was getting meaningful work with the starting defense and had positioned himself as an experienced option in a secondary still sorting through its roles.
NOTUS Sports reporter Martenzie Johnson noted that Witherspoon had been “performing really well in coverage” before the decision. That made the move especially surprising given where he stood in the competition just 24 hours earlier.
Witherspoon signed a one-year deal with Washington in March after spending the previous three seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. A third-round pick by San Francisco in 2017, he played nine NFL seasons with the 49ers, Steelers and Rams. Seattle signed him in 2021, but traded him to Pittsburgh before he appeared in a regular-season game.
He retires after appearing in 96 regular-season games and recording 13 interceptions and 60 passes defended.
His departure matters because of what Washington is still trying to sort out at cornerback.
Trey Amos remains on the physically unable to perform list as he works his way back from the leg injury that ended his rookie season. Mike Sainristil gives Washington one established starter, while veterans Rasul Douglas and now Moreau add experience to a group that is still taking shape.
Witherspoon was never guaranteed a starting job, but he represented valuable insurance. He had starting experience, could play on the outside and gave the Commanders another veteran option if Amos was not ready or another injury hit the position.
Moreau helps replace some of that experience. Washington originally selected him in the third round of the 2017 NFL Draft, and he spent his first four seasons with the franchise. He returns after spending the past two years in Minnesota, where he worked with current Commanders defensive coordinator Daronte Jones.
The move also continues an unusual stretch of veteran retirements for Washington. Linebacker and special teams standout Nick Bellore was placed on the reserve/retired list late last month.
Witherspoon’s retirement is not the kind of loss that should reshape the defense by itself. It does, however, remove a proven option from a secondary that entered camp with questions about depth and availability.
Washington responded quickly by bringing back Moreau, but the cornerback competition now looks different than it did Monday. The coaching staff still has time to sort through the group, but one of its more experienced options is suddenly gone.
That is the reality of training camp. Depth can look settled one day and become a concern the next.
For Washington, Witherspoon’s retirement turns what had been a straightforward competition into another position worth watching as the preseason approaches.
Conor Forrest is the Editor-in-Chief and Senior NFL Insider at SportsJourney.com, where he covers the Washington Commanders and the league at large. A Northern Virginia native and George Mason University graduate, his work has appeared in FanSided, NBC Sports Washington, Heavy.com, and The Fourth Estate. He is also the host of the “After Further Review” podcast, reaching a global audience with his analysis and storytelling.
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