Former Tennessee defender Shy Tuttle is in the middle of one of the strangest roster moves to surface around the NFL on Tuesday.
Tuttle, a defensive tackle who has built his reputation as an interior pass rusher, has been released by the Washington Commanders. But the move does not appear to be the end of the story. According to the reporting, the Commanders still want him back and are expected to have him on the roster and in the program before Week 1, which begins a week from next Sunday.
That makes the situation unusual even by late-summer NFL standards. Washington is not treating Tuttle like a player it wants to expose to waivers, where another team could claim him. Instead, the plan is to bring him back in time for the regular season and keep him on the game-day roster rather than stashing him on the practice squad.
Tuttle’s NFL path has included stops with multiple teams, and he most recently had been with Washington. He was not projected to start for the Commanders, but he was still expected to be a meaningful part of the rotation.
The release also lands Tuttle among a broader list of transactions that included Joey Aguilar being waived by the Jacksonville Jaguars, McCallen Castles being released by the Green Bay Packers, Matthew Butler being released by the Miami Dolphins, Dominic Bailey being waived by the Houston Texans, William Wright being waived by the Chicago Bears, and Jalen McMurray being waived by the Tennessee Titans.
For Tennessee fans, Tuttle remains one of the program’s more recognizable NFL names, a player whose value has come from his work inside and his ability to affect the quarterback from the middle of the line. This latest move just adds a bizarre wrinkle to an already unusual day of roster news.
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