Despite two decades of aggressive mediocrity, the professional football team in Washington operated with its unique blend of arrogance and idiocy that resulted in a dysfunctional organizational structure.
For years, the Redskins/Washington Football Team/Commanders eschewed the tried-and-true formula of hiring a general manager and letting that executive find a head coach. That formula has worked all over the NFL, for decades, but Dan Snyder and his collection of cronies repeatedly decided, “Screw that. We’re smarter than them. We’ll show ‘em!”
Well, in fact, Snyder and the Sycophants were not smarter and the various plans and schemes hatched deep in the Ashburn night never worked.
The good news? Those days are over.
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When Josh Harris and the new Washington ownership group took over last July, time constraints limited any meaningful change to the football operation. Harris bought the team one week before training camp, there just wasn’t much he could do.
Now, Harris is in motion.
'Adam Peters is a great hire'
After the Commanders lost the season finale 38-10 at home to Dallas on January 8th, finishing off a dreadful 4-13 campaign, Harris quickly dismissed Ron Rivera the next morning. Later that day the managing partner spoke to reporters but more directly to fans explaining he would run a “thorough but rapid” search for a new football boss.
Less than five days later Harris landed the top candidate in the country, 49ers Assistant General Manager Adam Peters, sources close to the situation have told NBC4 Sports. The deal will likely become official later this month as San Francisco is still in the playoffs.
Peters has been part of multiple Super Bowl-winning organizations in New England and Denver, working his way up from area scout for the Patriots to Director of College Scouting in Denver before being plucked away for the 49ers rebuild by Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch. In San Francisco, Peters was elevated to the title of assistant GM as the Niners built a roster deep with talent through the draft, free agency and trades.
One agent sent NBC4 an unsolicited text about Washington’s hire: “Adam Peters is a great hire. A great evaluator.”
Imagine the excitement for Commanders fans, after two decades spent watching Vinny Cerrato and Bruce Allen bumble major football decisions with Snyder frequently and unfortunately pushing his agenda, to get the top personnel man on the market?
Sure, Jay Gruden won some games and Rivera brought some stability to the team, but the personnel decisions were lackluster at best. The RG3 rocket ship was good for one season, and beyond that and due to a myriad of reasons, it was a disaster.
This just feels different.
From an NFL pariah to an NFL destination
The Washington job is desirable. There’s about $75 million in cap space, the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft and five picks in the top 100 to go along with - most importantly - competent, professional ownership.
Peters wouldn’t take this job if Dan Snyder offered it to him. Peters probably wouldn’t even have taken the interview. He’s turned others down before and both the Chargers and Raiders were pursuing him this offseason.
In about seven months, the Harris group has turned Washington from an NFL pariah to an NFL destination. That’s remarkable.
Words are easy. As DMX famously explained in the Ruff Ryder’s Anthem, talk is cheap. Harris isn’t about words. He’s not about marketing and selling T-shirts. Harris is about winning. Harris is about action. Winning will sell plenty of T-shirts.
Washington has not tried the real structure of GM and head coach in a long time. The last time that truly existed was probably right when Snyder bought the team and forced out respected veteran personnel man Charley Casserly. That was 1999.
It’s important to stress that hiring Peters guarantees nothing. The cap space could be wasted on subpar signings and the draft picks might flop. There will still be losses and fumbles and penalty flags. It’s still pro football and it’s still very hard.
But at this point, right now, Washington is doing it right. Building the right foundation before undergoing an organizational reset. At this stage, it’s all fans can want.
Harris hit the ground running
A few things stand out about the Harris operation thus far.
This group has moved in impressive silence. Harris put together a search team with two very high-profile executives - former Vikings GM Rick Spielman and former Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers - and kept it quiet. Harris used existing relationships to bring in both men and did it behind the scenes probably long before Rivera was formally dismissed.
Harris hit the ground running for the offseason, and that work paid off with the Peters hire.
It’s also probably not an accident that Myers had a previous relationship with Peters, much like it’s probably not an accident that Spielman’s brother works for the Detroit Lions. The same Lions that dispatched the LA Rams in the first round of the playoffs and employ Ben Johnson, widely believed to be the Commanders top head coaching candidate. So it’s a fairly safe assumption Spielman has a previous relationship with Johnson.
No accidents. Moving in silence. That reads more like the resume of Iceman from "Top Gun" than it does the previous folks running the show in Ashburn.
Welcome to the new age of competence and professionalism Commanders fans. It might require some recalibration of expectations. And damn that feels good.
