The season-ending neck injury to NFL All-Pro Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike may have doomed the defense from the start of the 2025 season. Madubuike, long considered 1 of the league’s elite interior defensive linemen, only played 2 games as his team ultimately finished 8-9 and missed the playoffs.
Another injury, much less publicized and at the same position, ended up completely robbing the Ravens of any depth on the interior defensive line after Broderick Washington was put on season-ending injured reserve around the same time as Madubuike, and only played in 3 games.
Headed into 2026, Bleacher Report’s Moe Moton put Washington on his list of the best NFL veterans who could have a hard time making the 53-man roster this fall.
Washington’s injury — originally thought to be his ankle — was actually to his Achilles tendon and required surgery, but it wasn’t actually for a torn Achilles tendon.
“Broderick Washington Jr. has been a solid rotational player across the Baltimore Ravens defensive line for six seasons,” Moton wrote. “He’s played at least 44 percent of the defensive snaps in three of the last four years, but his time with the team could come to an end this summer … Nnamdi Madubuike could play in the upcoming season after undergoing neck surgery. The Ravens signed Calais Campbell. If both are expected to play a significant number of snaps, Washington may be a cut candidate after missing most of the previous season.”
Broderick Washington Already on Hot Seat
This isn’t the 1st time this offseason that a pundit has predicted Washington’s time with the Ravens is coming to an end.
Spotrac’s Michael Ginnitti also predicted the Ravens could make a move to release the 6-foot-2, 315-pound former Texas Tech star.
“An ankle injury limited Washington’s 2025 season to just 4 games, and the 29-year-old is heading into a contract year in 2026,” Ginnitti wrote. “An outright release would leave behind $1.85M of dead cap, opening up $4M of space.”
While $4 million in salary cap space doesn’t seem like a lot, we’re also talking about a team that might still want to make a move for a veteran free agent wide receiver or running back.
Washington’s Injury Way Worse Than Projected
The big thing to consider with Washington is that even if the Ravens were to take on his contract for 2026, there’s no guarantee he even plays.
While Washington’s injury was originally thought to be just his ankle, he ended up having surgery to repair an Achilles tendon issue — although it was not classified as a torn Achilles tendon.
From CBS Sports on November 3: “Washington landed on injured reserve in late September due to what was initially listed as an ankle injury, but it’s an Achilles injury that the 2020 fifth-rounder is rehabbing from. The injury isn’t a tear, and while a timetable for his recovery hasn’t been shared by the Ravens, (John) Harbaugh relayed that a return for Washington is not ‘imminent.’ John Jenkins will continue to work in an elevated role on the defensive line for as long as Washington is sidelined.”
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