It’s been widely reported that the Washington Commanders will, more than likely, be sold to a group led by Josh Harris that will exceed $6B.
I’m not ignoring Brian Davis’ group allegedly having $7B secured but, for now, lets just go with Harris’ group because, no matter who ends up with the Commanders, the first moves made could be the most critical.
Whenever the new ownership group takes over, there won’t be enough time to make significant changes but that should be a one year trial period.
After the one year, barring a Super Bowl run, several positions need to be replaced and how the organization is structured needs to be changed.
It starts with the front office.
It would be different if there was just general football incompetence but there were too many football and non-football incidents and investigations to keep team president, Jason Wright. This could’ve been a “wrong place, wrong time” thing but Wright knew who he was going to work for.
If he didn’t know how toxic the environment was before taking the job, he certainly knew after being in the position.
It’s easy to say quit but there are only 32 of those jobs. It’s not that easy to say “no” especially when you’re an African-American.
With that being said, Wright’s presence is a link to the old regime and there are people who shouldn’t be subjected to that.
Along with Wright, Martin Mayhew (GM), Martin Hurney (Executive Vice President of Football/Player Personnel), and Rob Roger ( Senior Vice President of Football Administration) should also head out of the door.
In their case, they oversaw a roster (partially) that hasn’t been able to be truly competitive during their time in Washington.
That leads us to the coaching position. Ron Rivera needs to be let go as soon as the 2023 season is over.
Rivera was given complete control on an organization is disarray. Giving a coach complete control should be reserved for the elite of the elite and, even then, it shouldn’t be a given.
Rivera has never been in that category and shouldn’t have been given that power.
Snyder did it because he thought it would give his team so level of legitimacy. Also… it was the only way anyone of note would take such a bad job.
This is something we saw on the left coast when Mark Davis gave full power to Jon Gruden and the on-field product was mediocre at best.
While getting the organization back in order, Washington will also need to look for a stadium deal. In our current economical landscape, how many communities will won’t take on the cost and traffic concerns that come with that?
My solution is very simple. Either you give DC a sweetheart deal for use of the RFK location or you work with the state of Maryland to make substantial improvements to FedEx Field.
The FedEx option would need to come with some type of deal with WMATA to run a metro line within suitable distance of the actual stadium.
That’s something Snyder wouldn’t do. Why do that when you make fans hostages to unreasonable parking prices.
Whether you think it’s a public relations stunt or not, the new owners will need to reach out and give an exhausted fan base a hug. They will have to show that they care and they won’t be the emperor with no clothes like the last owner.
There is a laundry list of things that needs to be done for this to happen but this fan base is willing to live through it, if the new ownership is genuine about it.
