Jaguars Move Marcedes Lewis To IR

Marcedes Lewis‘ 11th NFL season will conclude early after the Jaguars placed the veteran tight end on IR Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

The former first-round pick sustained a calf injury against the Lions, bringing his season to a close after 10 games. Jacksonville claimed defensive tackle Jordan Hill off waivers from the Redskins to fill Lewis’ roster spot, Zac Jackson of Pro Football Talk reports.

This will be just the second time in Lewis’ career he’s failed to play in 11 games during a season. Only in 2014 did he fall short of reaching the double-figure threshold for games played, with an ankle injury shelving him for eight games that season. The following offseason, the Jags signed Julius Thomas, leading many to believe the longest-tenured tight end in franchise history would be cut. But Lewis restructured his contract and has tacked on two more seasons to his stay in north Florida.

The 32-year-old tight end actually increased his reception total from a 2015 season in which he played 16 games, hauling in 20 passes for 169 yards and a touchdown this fall. Although, the 8.5 yards per catch is the lowest of Lewis’ career.

A 12th Lewis season in Jacksonville would cost the Jags $4.25MM. With Thomas set to earn $8.3MM, it shouldn’t be considered a lock Lewis will be back, even though the auxiliary tight end is signed through 2018.

Washington became the second team to cut Hill, doing so on Saturday after the Seahawks jettisoned the former rotational defensive lineman from its IR list earlier this season.