The Redskins have told Rock Cartwright and Todd Collins the same thing. They want them to return. So far, however, all they’ve given them are words.
With free agency starting Friday, Cartwright won’t get a contract offer from Washington. According to a team and NFL source, the Redskins will let him test the market.
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Collins will join him, barring a last-minute offer that trumps his desire to compete for a starting job. Here, he would be No. 2 behind Jason Campbell. Collins has yet to get an offer from Washington.
“Todd is curious enough to see if there’s a situation where he can get on the field without someone getting hurt,” said Collins’ agent, Brad Blank.
As for Cartwright, their seventh-round pick in 2002, he’s been told by head coach Jim Zorn, running backs coach Sherman Smith and special teams coach Danny Smith that he’s wanted here.
But the Redskins can’t offer Cartwright what he wants most: more carries.
Cartwright said he wants to finish his career here. But, with Clinton Portis and Ladell Betts ahead of him, he won’t get the extra carries. He’s run the ball seven times combined the past two years.
“I would love to be back,” Cartwright said. “But I want an opportunity to run the ball and I don’t think that’s going to happen in Washington.
“Here I won’t get the chance to even compete for the No. 2 job. You’re automatically the No. 3 and when I did get the opportunity to be No. 2, they took it away from me when they brought T.J. [Duckett] in [in 2006].”
Cartwright has developed into a special teams leader in Washington, starring as a returner (25.8 yards per kick return this season) and in coverage.
Houston and Philadelphia are among the teams that might need a No. 2 running back, plus someone who could return kickoffs.
“There are a lot teams I can play for,” he said. “I can go in and compete to be the No. 2 guy and possibly the No. 1 guy. … It’s real frustrating because I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
