Chris Culliver has reached the end of the road in Washington.
Redskins general manager Scot McCloughan told reporters on Monday that the team has released Culliver, just over a year after the cornerback signed a four-year, $32 million deal with the 'Skins in free agency. Things went downhill from there: Culliver tore his ACL and MCL in November and saw the remaining guaranteed money in his deal disappear following a Week 2 suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
The Redskins had initially planned -- publicly, at least -- to bring back Culliver for a second season, but the dynamic of the team changed when Josh Norman was signed to a massive free-agent deal on April 22. Culliver's fate was sealed when Washington used a third-round pick on Virginia Tech cornerback Kendall Fuller on Friday.
McCloughan said Culliver got caught up in a "numbers game" following the arrival of Norman and Fuller. The GM did not close the door on a return for Culliver, though he acknowledged this will be a good opportunity for the veteran to test the open market. Fuller passed a team physical but is returning from microfracture knee surgery.
Assuming he can make it back from his injury, Culliver should be an enticing option for teams looking to add secondary depth. He's just 27 and parlayed an extremely productive season with the San Francisco 49ers in 2014 into his big-money deal in Washington.
