Mike Shanahan wants to return

— -- ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins coach Mike Shanahan said he doesn't think the decision on his job will take a long time.

Shanahan has one year left on his contract, but he said he thinks the issue will be resolved shortly after the Redskins' season finale at the New York Giants on Sunday.

"I'm sure it will," he said. "But you'll have to ask [owner Dan Snyder]. I can't answer that."

Whether that means hours after the finale or within a couple of days remains to be seen, but it won't drag on.

The Redskins are 3-12 entering Week 17 and 24-39 overall in Shanahan's tenure. They're wrapping up their third double-digit loss season out of the past four. Worse, the Redskins have again become a soap opera, something they had been during various regimes in the past -- and that Shanahan vowed would not happen under his watch.

In recent weeks, however, there have been stories regarding Shanahan's desire to quit after last season, his dislike of quarterback Robert Griffin III's relationship with Snyder and the rift between Griffin and himself. It became a side drama as the Redskins' season unraveled to the point they're in the midst of a seven-game losing streak -- tied for the franchise's longest since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.

However, Shanahan said that hasn't changed his desire to return.

"No, I've told you from day one, I love these guys," Shanahan said. "We've been working extremely hard to put this thing together. We've had a couple of bumps, which we all know, with the [$36 million] salary cap [penalty]. But I'm looking forward to building this team. Like I said, I'll get the chance to sit down with Dan at the end of the season, and we'll go from there."

It's quite a turnaround from this time a year ago, when the Redskins were in the middle of a six-game winning streak en route to the NFC East title. They're currently 0-5 in the division heading into the game at New York.