It’s possible that Enrique Murciano’s option as a series regular was declined as The Blacklist team looks to rework some of the departed cast from The Blacklist: Redemption back into the fold.
With no Season 2 for their ill-fated spin-off, Ryan Eggold will likely play a larger role again in the series, and perhaps some of his storyline from the spinoff could travel into Season 5.
Taking that, and the potentially game-changing element of the contents of that suitcase headed to Liz, one might understand how Jon Bokenkamp had to drop Murciano’s character from the story to get deeper into the mystery that is Elizabeth Keen.