So the Redskins signed two-time Pro Bowl running back Willie Parker to an incentive-laden deal yesterday. What does this tell us? Well, for starters, it cements that the Skins’ front office obviously has no qualms about giving shots to backs that most other teams believe are washed up or a liability off the field: the depth chart now includes returning starter Clinton Portis (age 28), Parker (age 30), and fellow free agent signing and alleged woman assaulter Larry Johnson (age 29) — all nearing or at that age when modern day backs start to really lose that zip. Additionally, the signing also seems to indicate that this upcoming 2010 vintage of the Redskins will be a) a proponent of frequent tailback rotation, and b) a certain source of frustration for fantasy footballers who forget to draft a second RB before the fifth round.

Parker’s agent insists that competition for the starting running back slot is “flat-out open.” But of course, that’s meaningless — the “starting running back” on recent Shanahan teams has been little more than a half-time contributor. For example: In Portis’ last two uninterrupted-by-injury seasons as Washington’s starter (2007 and 2008), he carried the ball the ball an average of 334 times. To find a season where Shanahan employed a running back to carry the ball more than 300 times, you have to go all the way back to 1998, when Terrell Davis toted the rock 392 times en route to Denver’s second-straight Super Bowl championship.

Of course, the team is reportedly still looking for more help in the backfield, so it would appear that the chances of all three veterans sticking around are slim. We hereby look forward to hearing ad nauseum debates about which of the trio should stay for the next four or five months.