INDIANAPOLIS — After the Washington Redskins lost to the Green Bay Packers in the wild-card round of the playoffs, veteran defensive end Jason Hatcher announced he was considering retirement.
Hatcher is yet to inform the team of his decision, however, coach Jay Gruden said he believes the defensive end is leaning toward returning for an 11th season. Hatcher played through a pinched nerve in his neck, which affected his left shoulder and sapped him of his strength. In between Weeks 13 and 14, Hatcher traveled to meet with Greg Roskopf, a Colorado-based specialist, who helped Hatcher get strong enough to remain on the field.
The only game Hatcher missed was the regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys, when the Redskins already had clinched the NFC East. Hatcher regularly missed Wednesday practices last season to rest his knee and played 51.1 percent of the team’s defensive snaps.
“He’s had a chance to sit back and think about it,” Gruden said. “And, he’s still in the process of thinking about it. I think he’s learning towards playing, I would guess right now, but we’ll have to wait and see. He’s put a lot of good years in. Body was a little bit beat up last year at the end of the year, but I think he’s starting to recover, feel a lot better so I think his mind will change a little bit as he gets closer to time to kick off.”
The Redskins signed Hatcher, who played eight years with the Cowboys, to a four-year, $27.5 million contract in 2014. He has a base salary of $6.2 million in 2016 and $7.2 million in 2017. If he retires, the Redskins would owe him $4.5 million from his signing bonus, which is prorated at $2.25 million each season.
• Anthony Gulizia can be reached at agulizia@washingtontimes.com.
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