Cooley in 2006. (Photo by Brian Howell)

The “Washington” Redskins and Chris Cooley are going their separate ways after eight seasons, the team announced today. Cooley, who holds the franchise record for receptions by a tight end, was released after Mike Shanahan named Fred Davis the team’s starting tight end.

“It’s been awesome,” Cooley said of his tenure with the team to reporters at the Redskins’ training facility in Ashburn, Va.

Though Cooley has been one of the most accomplished receivers in the team’s history, Davis has been waiting in the wings, and Cooley, 30, isn’t quite as nimble as he used to be. Nagging injuries limited him to five games last year. And his production in a league that increasingly sees the tight end position as an added wide receiver has been in steady decline for several years. Though Cooley reeled in 27 touchdowns over his first four seasons, he scored just six over the second four.

Still, to let Cooley go elsewhere—he still wants to be a starting tight end somewhere in the NFL—is a mistake, Washingtonian’s Brett Haber argues. The wistfulness isn’t necessarily because Cooley still has that much left to contribute on the field, but because he’s just so much fun to cover:

He’s the guy who walks out to midfield for the pregame coin toss and introduces himself to the opposing team’s players as Captain Chaos. He’s the guy who got so serious about pottery that he opened a studio in Leesburg. He’s the guy who got so interested in movie-making that he financed an independent film in 2009.

Cooley is also the player who broke team convention by openly fraternizing with one of the Redskins’ cheerleaders, Christy Oglevee, who was fired by the organization shortly before marrying Cooley.

And Cooley is also a somewhat accomplished artisan, with a side career as a potter and owner of a Leesburg gallery.

Oh, and then there was that time he posted photos of himself reading the team’s 2008 playbook.