Daniel Snyder has already talked to Santana Moss about a future role with the Redskins

By the end of last season, Santana Moss wasn’t just the longest tenured Redskins player; he was among the longest-tenured pro athletes in D.C. sports. Near as I can tell, Moss — who debuted with Washington in September of 2005 — had been here longer than anyone other than Brooks Laich (who made his debut in 2004) and Ryan Zimmerman, who beat Moss to D.C. by 10 days.

Coach Jay Gruden has said he would still be open to bringing the 35-year old Moss back if circumstances demand it, but the longtime wide receiver has recently spoken as if his time in Washington is over. He also said last week that he’s already talked to owner Daniel Snyder about returning in a different capacity one day.

“I went up there and met with Dan a little before the draft, and we just talked basically about life, football, everything,” Moss told 106.7 The Fan’s Chad Dukes. “Dan has always been special to me from Day One when I became a Redskin, and he knows how much I love him and I appreciate him. So we sat down and talked for hours, and he just told me, ‘I know that you want to play so I’m not sure how things are gonna go, but if you’re not a ‘Skin, whenever you’re done, I want you back here to retire and everything. And when you’re done with that, if you want to do something with the team, give me a holler.’

“And I appreciate that, because I feel like my life has been around football for so long that it’s hard to just walk away, even when it’s time for me to walk away,” Moss said. “So I’m gonna sit out here and continue to grind and do what I know best. I still feel like I have something left in my legs. If someone needs that, they can give me a holler. If not, I’ll be the first one to let you know that I’m gonna go ahead and put them up and then move forward to whatever else I have planned for myself.”
Moss said he knows he wants to be a coach some day, and said he feels “like I invested so much into the Redskins, [a future in Washington is] only right for when I’m done and I want to move on.”

Snyder “just let me know that those doors would be open if I ever want to do that,” he said. “So I told him I appreciate that, just hearing it from him, letting me know that now, so whenever I do decide to take that path, I can always call him and let him know I’m ready for that.”

Moss said the Redskins drafting two wide receivers last month was a sign that the team is heading in another direction, and that he had no bad feelings toward the team or its front office. When your career is nearing its end, he said, “you have to slide to the side and let someone else have their chance.”

Moss would leave Washington third in team history in receptions, and with the single-season yardage mark. And while he seemed open to retirement, Moss also said he would wait and see if anyone needs a veteran receiver.

“I’ve never been in this water, so I’m treading it right now, and just staying afloat, letting them know that I’m ready for whatever if they need me,” he said. “But like I said before to a couple of my other friends, I’ll know when it’s over. When no one gives you that holler and it gets down that line to where there’s games being played and it’s too late, then I’ll be the first to say, ‘Hey, it was good while it lasted’ and I’ll move on without even looking back. Like I said before, I’ll have no regrets. Everything I did, I did with my heart, I went out there and played my heart.”


(washingtonpost.com)