Miami Dolphins

Washington Redskins Claim Linebacker Zach Vigil Off Of Waivers

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:44 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jacob Camenker/FanSided via Riggo's Rag

The Washington Redskins officially claimed linebacker Zach Vigil off of waivers from the Miami Dolphins. To make room for him, they moved Houston Bates to the IR.

On Tuesday afternoon, the Washington Redskins made a couple of key roster moves. Early in the day, they had confirmed that special teams star Houston Bates was going to be out for the season with a torn ACL. They officially placed him on the Injured Reserve while adding linebacker Zach Vigil off of waivers. The news broke via the Redskins Twitter account.

The signing is a high upside move, but it seems unlikely that Vigil will make much of an impact this year.

Back in 2015, Vigil was an undrafted free agent who signed with the Dolphins. He had played his college ball at Utah State where he put up some solid numbers. In the 2015 offseason, he earned a job with the Dolphins thanks to his impressive play at linebacker. The team was relatively weak at the position, and Vigil showed that he could be a depth and special teams guy for them.

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Over the course of his two seasons with the Dolphins, Vigil played in 23 games and recorded eight tackles. He missed the first half of the 2016 season due to a back injury, and he never regained his role with the team. In his rookie year, he made two starts. He was nothing more than a backup caliber player, but he had a decent impact on the team.

Earlier in the week, the Dolphins elected to part ways with Vigil after they signed Trevor Reilly from the Patriots practice squad. Reilly had previously played a couple of seasons with the Jets, and offered some more positional versatility. Still, it seemed that the team had an interest in keeping Vigil around, but the Redskins swooped in.

For now, Vigil will likely take over Bates’ role on special teams. He has experience and solid tackling ability, so that should be something he can do. Vigil also is likely to serve as a depth linebacker. The Redskins are thin in the middle of the field, so he may see some time on Saturday if Will Compton and Su’a Cravens are both out again. Martrell Spaight was dreadful as the lead man, so perhaps he could relieve him on a few snaps.

Overall, this seems like a decent move by the Redskins. They quickly replaced Bates and got a player with some upside. It will be interesting to see if Vigil suits up during the short week.