The Washington Commanders can breathe for now. Frankie Luvu’s one-game suspension has been overturned, keeping the linebacker available for Week 10. But with the NFL tightening its stance on hip-drop tackles and Luvu already on thin ice, this relief has actually come with a price.

Luvu’s initial one-game suspension, after multiple hip-drop offenses, was the first of its kind under the league’s updated safety rules. However, after an appeal, hearing officer Derrick Brooks reduced the suspension to a $100,000 fine, allowing Luvu to play Sunday against the Detroit Lions. The decision came as a major relief for a Commanders squad already battling a pileup of injuries.

Luvu’s latest violation occurred in Week 9 against the Seattle Seahawks, his third such offense of the season. The play happened in the first quarter, for which no flag was thrown, but the league reviewed it post-game and cited him for another hip-drop tackle. Earlier, he was fined $23,186 in Week 4 against the Atlanta Falcons and $46,372 in Week 8 against the Kansas City Chiefs for the same infraction. He also received a $16,883 fine during last season’s NFC Divisional Round for a similar hit on Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs, which has only added to his reputation as a repeat offender.

While the league is focused on bringing down the number of hip-drop tackles, Luvu’s reputation has suffered as a result. The technique, banned last year due to its high injury risk, is defined by the NFL rulebook as:

“A foul if a player uses the following technique to bring a runner to the ground: (a) grabs the runner with one or both hands or wraps the runner with both arms; and (b) unweights himself by swiveling and dropping his hips and/or lower body, landing on and/or trapping the runner’s leg(s) at or below the knee.”

However, what happened with Frankie Luvu doesn’t really match what the league is trying to stop. The hip-drop rule is meant for plays where a defender is on his feet, wraps up a ball carrier, and then drops his hips to yank the runner down, the kind of move that’s been tied to ugly lower-body injuries. But in this play against Seattle, Luvu wasn’t even planted.

He was in the air, fully diving, just trying to make a last-second stop. And when you’re airborne like that, your body weight is always going to land on the ball carrier unless you somehow clip an ankle. That’s just physics. Still, this suspension feels like it stems more from his past warnings than this specific tackle, because there’s no real way to call this one a textbook hip-drop under the actual rule.

But, Luvu will take the financial hit instead of missing game time. It’s still a hefty price to pay, but both he and the Commanders dodged a bigger problem. The team will need Luvu when they face the Detroit Lions in Week 10. Apart from the trouble, the LB has been a major help to the team this season.

Across his last 9 games, he had 50 tackles, two sacks, two pass breakups, and forced a fumble. He was impressive last season, too, with 8 sacks. However, considering the given situation, he must avoid the hip drop tackles, or else he could surely land with another suspension this season.

Moreover, he isn’t the only Commanders player who got fined recently. Safety Quan Martin was fined $11,572 for an aggressive play in Week 8 after hitting a defenseless player in the third quarter.

While the Commanders will have Luvu on the roster, the franchise has made another roster change.

After Frankie Luvu’s relief, the Commanders made a roster move before the Lions’ game

The Commanders were expected to shake things up before the trade deadline, especially after their loss to the Seahawks. Names like defensive tackle Daron Payne, wide receiver Deebo Samuel, and offensive lineman Andrew Wylie were all floating around in trade talks.

But when the deadline passed, Washington had no major changes. No blockbuster moves, no additions, and there were no departures. Instead, the team made smaller roster adjustments. They elevated wide receiver Treylon Burks from the practice squad while placing cornerback Marshon Lattimore (ACL injury) and wideout Luke McCaffrey (broken collarbone) on injured reserve.

McCaffrey suffered from injury, and Lattimore hadn’t quite looked like his usual self before landing on IR. Burks made the most of his first call-up with Washington in Week 9, catching his only target for a 14-yard gain and logging 35 offensive snaps.

The team will expect more of such performance in Week 10