Skins have moved money in free agency period

ASHBURN The lower level at Redskins Park houses the weight room and conditioning equipment and remains mostly silent in the offseason. The heavy lifting is done in the executive offices, where this season the Redskins were again major players in the free agent market.

Late Thursday and into Friday morning, team executives were working the phones as they re-signed cornerback DeAngelo Hall as well as signed free agent defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth and guard Derrick Dockery.

Redskins coach Jim Zorn caffeinated Thursday night and was part of the process alongside executive VP Vinny Cerrato, owner Dan Snyder and team negotiator Eric Schaffer. Their goal was two-fold -- to offer the most money and provide an attractive recruiting pitch to prospective free agents.

"The players do a nice job of embracing these guys, and that's something the press doesn't see," Zorn said yesterday. "Our guys like playing here."

Hall cited that camaraderie as his motivation for signing, comparing it to the reason the Chesapeake native picked Virginia Tech coming out of high school.

"I had offers to go to Florida State and all those other shinier schools, but it just felt right. Those coaches felt like family," Hall said. "That's how I feel here. I knew once I stepped into this place I didn't want to leave."

That feel-good mentality was also backed up by money in Hall's case, $23 million up front.

"You can talk to a player and go, 'Oh, this is it!,' but the bottom line is that one of the major ingredients when you're negotiating is money," Zorn said.

He credited Snyder and Schaffer for working with the agents to create attractive offers that fit the team's budget, most notably the $40 million guaranteed to Haynesworth.

The final signing was slightly more bizarre, as former Redskin Dockery came on the market after the Buffalo Bills failed to file the paperwork needed to trade him. As soon as he was a free agent, Cerrato ran to tell offensive-line coach Joe Bugel and start the signing process.

Cerrato believes Haynesworth's signing will make the rest of the free agency period easier. He compared the market to major-league baseball, saying there will be guys waiting around in a few months without contracts.

"The funny thing is that everybody wants to come play here now, because they get to play next to Albert," he said. "We just have to wait and let the prices come down."

They may not have much choice in that regard, though the team did free some salary-cap room by cutting defensive end Jason Taylor on Monday. That likely will bring an end to the frenetic activity at Redskins Park. The last name still floating around is offensive lineman Pete Kendall, who was productive last year at 35.

"I don't think he's done," Zorn said. "He's a real pro who still gets himself ready that's going to be my next phone call."

The phone calls were put on hold temporarily while the Redskins welcomed Hall and Dockery, both of whom had spent time with the team before.

Dockery was drafted by the Redskins and had a "lovefest" with Bugel when he returned, Zorn joked.

For Hall, the questions were about whether he would live up to his end of the large contract after a disappointing half-season tenure in Oakland. He assured reporters he would. He added it doesn't hurt to be on the league's fourth-best defense, playing alongside Haynesworth.

"That might be why I'm so confident and cocky," he joked. "You'll just have to wait and see."

Contact Michael Phillips at (804) 649-6546