There's going to be a new head coach, a new GM, and a lot of new players in the Commanders' facility over the next few months as the Josh Harris group cleans house and begins anew this offseason.
Already, the Commanders have sent Eric Stokes, their Senior Director of Player Personnel, to the NFL's Accelerator program that helps owners meet minority executives, and JP Finlay thinks both he and Tim Gribble, the team's Director of College Personnel, will be "gobbled up quick by other organizations" if they are swept out of here.
Or maybe one will stay if they impress Harris enough, because as JP notes, the selection of the next GM is going to be "the biggest decision" the ownership group makes this winter – and that's why he brought up the Accelerator program.
"Last year, that program was the first time the owner of the Titans spent a ton of time with Ran Carthon, who was then with the Niners," JP said. "A few months later, he was hired to be the GM – and this year, according to CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones, the two most active owners at the program were Harris and Carolina's David Tepper."
Harris doing some big due diligence there, and there are already at least three openings in Carolina, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles – but the Chargers' beat writer from The Athletic came up with a list of 16 possibilities for L.A., which means a lot of choices, especially if you look at a coach/GM situation.
However, as an example, Landfill is in on the idea of Mike Tomlin as a head coach if the Steelers fire him (and not in a trade), whereas JP is okay with it if the trade is a late Day 2 or Day 3 pick only – but neither wants Tomlin, or Bill Belichick, or someone like that, who will be a head coach and GM type.
"I'm out on coach-centric; I want coach involvement, but there's generally a structure that works in the NFL, and it's a football boss and a coach," JP said. "Get the right structure for once, because it hasn't existed here since Dan Snyder bought the team in 2000. Hire a GM, let them hire a coach, and figure it all out with the traditional model."
So who might be in the mix? JP suggested San Francisco No. 2 Adam Peters, but with him or anyone else, you have to look at two things.
"If you look at the Niners roster, you see how aggressive they've been in trades, and some of the draft picks that have been absolute home runs," JP said, "but the two biggest questions are always going to be, what was their level of involvement in the hits, and what about the misses?
See also Trey Lance or Solomon Thomas on the latter in San Fran, and see also the same situations for anyone around the league – but JP says, as long as that person can bring an identity to build on and stick to, that's a big factor too.
"I think one of the biggest mistakes of the Rivera Gang is there hasn't been an identity and they haven't stuck to whatever it is," JP said. "You can't claim to be a tough, hard-nosed, we're gonna win in the trenches team and then draft a 160-pound corner with the 16th overall pick. That just doesn't add up."
