LANDOVER — Jason Hatcher is under contract for two more seasons, but the Washington Redskins’ veteran defensive end said he will consider retirement in the offseason.
“It’s hard to not come back, but at the same time I’ve got to do what’s best for me and the family,” Hatcher said after the Redskins’ 35-18 loss to the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round on Sunday.
“I’m going to pray about it. I’m not going to hold [the Redskins] up at all with my decision. I’ll make it pretty quick. [General manager] Scot [McCloughan] wants me to be a part of this team next year, so we’ll see how everything plays out. I still love the game, but I still have a lot of stuff, decisions I’ve got to make, things going on outside of football, I’m just going to take it from here.”
Hatcher played 15 of 16 games this season and made 14 starts. He sat out in the Redskins’ regular-season finale against the Dallas Cowboys, but by then Washington had already secured the NFC East.
He pinched a nerve in his neck that was weakening his left arm and was unlikely to play in the Redskins’ Week 14 win against the Chicago Bears, but flew out to Denver to receive special treatment and returned in time to play a limited role in the game.
Hatcher is under contract until the 2017 season and carries a cap hit of $8.7 million next season.
With the exception of the game against the Cowboys, Hatcher never missed a game this season. He also battled knee soreness, which kept him out of most Wednesday practices this season until the final week of preparation for the Packers.
In the regular season, Hatcher played 54.5 percent of the team’s defensive snaps and had two sacks. In his 10-year career, he has played in 147 of 160 games and has never missed more than three games in a season.
• Anthony Gulizia can be reached at agulizia@washingtontimes.com.
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