Redskins

Donte Stallworth sees plenty of the familiar faces on Redskins roster

Donte Stallworth won't be lining up with the Redskins until this weekend, but he's already plenty familiar with his new teammates.

John Beck? The 2 were together in Baltimore last summer.

Santana Moss? Friends.

Fellow receivers Leonard Hankerson and Anthony Armstrong? Worked out with them in Miami.

Jim Haslett? That's who drafted Stallworth into the league in 2002.

In fact, in addition to chatting with Mike and Kyle Shanahan prior to agreeing to a one-year deal Wednesday morning, Stallworth said he called Haslett to get the lay of the land around Redskins Park.

"He knows that I trust him a lot," Stallworth said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "We have a great relationship. We spent 4 or 5 years together. He had nothing but good things to say about the Redskins. I know if there was anything negative, he would've told me."

Stallworth said he looked at the Washington roster and was happy to see some familiar faces, too. "I think I could help out a lot and we could open up some things for each other," he said.

That'd be a departure from recent years. The Redskins mark Stallworth's fifth team in 6 seasons (though he missed 2009 due to a suspension after pleading guilty to felony DUI manslaughter). Since 2008, he has a total of 252 yards on 19 receptions. In Baltimore last year, he was primarily used to run reverses and caught only 2 balls all year.

"I was always telling the guys on my team that I ran more reverses last year than I had the rest of my career combined," Stallworth said. "And I'd never been a big fan of reverses. But yeah, I know what I can do, given the opportunity. At the end of the season, a lot of guys on the other defenses, they were wondering why I wasn't playing, and they had game-plans for me.

"I wasn't given much of an opportunity last year, but just knowing that defensive coordinators still respected me and my speed and the things I could do on the field, it lets me know somebody still feels I could still play. Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to show it this year."

Stallworth's signing will be official on Friday evening. He said he plans to be at Redskins Park as soon as he's allowed through the doors.

Stallworth is 30 years old but feels like he has football left in him. Considering some of the other players in camp, it's possible the Redskins might represent his best chance in years to contribute. The Redskins missed out on Santonio Holmes, who agreed to terms Wednesday with the Jets, and unless they make a late play for Sidney Rice or talks with Braylon Edwards heat up, Moss and Armstrong could enter camp again as the top two receivers. There are no other proven receivers on the roster.

"Hopefully we can surprise a lot of people this year," Stallworth said. "Not only individually, but obviously as a team. They didn't have the success they wanted last year. People won't be expecting us to come out and have a good year. That's the way I like. I like to be the underdog."