The first two-plus weeks of free agency produced an unusual occurrence: no players visited Redskins Park. And the first time one did, another odd sight happened: the visiting player left without a contract.
Free agent receiver D.J. Hackett visited the Redskins Wednesday night and Thursday morning, before leaving for two more stops. Hackett, who has spent his first four years with Seattle, is scheduled to visit Tampa Bay and Carolina. Seattle also is interested in re-signing him, but, his agent Kevin Robinson said, the Seahawks have not said they want a chance to match any offers.
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“This will all be up to him,” said Redskins coach Jim Zorn, who was on Seattle’s coaching staff the past four years. “We’re not going to risk it all to try to pay him. But if we have a chance to get him, we’d like to have him. … I tried to instigate this a little bit when nothing was going on for him. I said, ‘Let’s try to get him out here.’”
The Redskins made him an offer — in the past, free agents that they wanted rarely left without a deal. One team source said earlier this week that they would not offer him a big contract, knowing they could fill this need in the draft. However, they also know he’s more proven than any player they’ll draft and history shows that rookie wideouts don’t make big impacts.
Robinson said they weren’t disappointed by the offer.
“He said the visit went well and he thinks it would be a good opportunity in Washington,” Robinson said.
“He’ll get a lot more than [the minimum],” one NFC executive said. “There’s money out there for him. … He’d be a good No. 2 receiver. He’s a big athletic strong receiver. He doesn’t have breakaway speed, but he’s a good route-runner.”
Hackett had not been on any visits before now. He played in only six games this past season because of a high ankle sprain that he re-aggravated during the season. But he played in the postseason, catching six passes for 101 yards and a touchdown in the first-round win over Washington. He has 105 career receptions, but has never played in all 16 games — he played in a combined 27 the previous two seasons.
At 6-foot-2, 208 pounds, Hackett, a former fifth-round pick, would fill the Redskins’ need for a big wideout. In the west coast offense, receivers are asked to run numerous short routes. A bigger wideout has more ability to withstand the pounding, as well as break tackles and turn short passes into long gains.
“We thought he was a guy who could make big catches,” Zorn said. “He could concentrate in difficult situations. … When you run slants and things like that, you’d like to be big enough to where you can take a pounding. You’d like to have a bigger target in the red zone when we’re going for the end zone. He fits that bill.”
Zorn said Hackett moves effortlessly on the field.
“If he comes in here, you guys will go, ‘Is he loafing?’ And then you realize he’s behind the defender,” Zorn said. “It’s different than Santana [Moss] or Antwaan [Randle El]. If you can get by that, you’ll see that he’s pushing it.”
