NFL Rumors: Clinton Portis Done In Washington?

Despite suffering a bad groin tear early on in the season, Clinton Portis mentioned that he is ahead of schedule during an interview on “The Mike Wise Show” on 106.7 FM Tuesday, per Jason Reid of the Washington Post.

While this is good news for Portis, there is some speculation that his time with the Redskins could be coming to and end. Since Portis went down, Ryan Torain and Keiland Williams have carried the load admirably and it would be uncharacteristic of  Mike Shanahan to commit  to anyone as a featured running back. Then when you consider that Portis is due to make $8.254 million next season, it appears even less likely that he’ll be back in 2011.

Portis has already commented on the chances that he could let go during the offseason by saying, “If it don’t work out here, I’m okay with walking away with a smile on my face and understanding it’s business.”

The free agent running back market will be a competitive pool, so Portis will have to prove that he has fully recovered and be willing to except less money than his 2011 salary. It’s also a possibility that teams could require that he agrees to an incentive ladened contract. Portis will be 29 next season which isn’t that old but he has accumulated plenty of mileage over the years so teams may look to use him as a complimentary back like Thomas Jones was to Jamaal Charles this year.