Doug Williams: Redskins Front Office Unanimous on Reuben Foster Despite Arrest

Washington Redskins Vice President of Player Personnel Doug Williams said Thursday that the organization's decision-makers were all in agreement on claiming linebacker Reuben Foster off waivers from the San Francisco 49ers this week. 

In an interview for The Team 980 (h/t Scott Allen of the Washington Post), Williams responded to a report by the Washington Post's Les Carpenter and Kareem Copeland in which they noted that an NFL official told them the Redskins were divided on whether to bring in Foster:

"When I read that, I was trying to find out who wasn't united. ... This is all the people from the head coach, and myself and [Redskins President Bruce Allen], and of course the owner, who owns this football team, has to know what we're talking about. I don't know who wasn't on board. I don't know where the source comes from. In every organization and every business, everything else, I'm sure they got some leakers who might say something and people take it and run with it. ... Nobody that was in my room was thumbs down."

Williams continued, per Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post:

Washington claimed Foster Tuesday after the 49ers waived him in the wake of his arrest on a domestic violence charge Saturday.

Tampa Police said Foster pushed and slapped Elissa Ennis, and they observed a "one-inch scratch" on her left collarbone.

In February, Foster was arrested on suspicion of domestic violence and possession of an assault rifle, but the domestic violence charge was dropped after Ennis recanted her allegations.

According to ESPN.com's John Keim, Foster is currently on the commissioner's exempt list, meaning he can't play or practice.

Williams acknowledged the severity of the allegations against Foster, but also supported the decision to take a chance on the 2017 first-round pick:

"We knew there was going to be some backlash, and we understand that, and rightfully so. I've got six daughters, so it ain't something I would condone, but at the same time I think we are in the business of at least looking into [his case]. I could sit here, and I won't, name a bunch of teams that took on players that got a lot of baggage that nobody's saying anything about. You can't get into nitpicking what they do and what you do. You gotta look at it from your standpoint. There was a lot of thought that went into it. It wasn't just a spur of the moment type of thing. We all gathered, we talked about it, we knew there was going to be some risk-reward involved in it."

The Niners selected Foster out of Alabama with the No. 31 overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft. So far this season, Foster has appeared in six contests and recorded 29 tackles.

At 6-5, Washington will face the 5-6 Philadelphia Eagles on the road on Monday night. The Redskins are tied for the NFC East lead with the Dallas Cowboys.