“The best day in the tenure of Daniel Snyder owning of the Washington franchise was yesterday. It was the best day, and one of the very few good days, of his tenure.”
How’s THAT for a reaction to the pending Commanders sale, that quote coming from ESPN’s Field Yates as he stopped by The Hoffman Show to talk to Craig about the biggest DC sports news since the World Series trophy came to town.
Yates worked for the Patriots and Chiefs before switching his NFL focus from coaching/scouting to journalism, so he’s seen how two of the NFL’s most successful franchises have been run. The fact that the Commanders are the complete opposite, though, is why he gave the quote above.
“Often times when there’s change, you can find ways to reflect on that change in a positive way – but I was trying to think back and think of any positives from his tenure, other than the fact it’s over,” Yates said. “There has been a remarkable lack of success, and he has caused significant embarrassment. We’ve talked about very few owners over the past two decades more than Dan Snyder, and it’s for all the wrong reasons.”
All the wrong reasons off the field for sure, but especially, it seems, in the office building proper.
“The best functioning organizations run when football people can handle their responsibilities and the business people handle theirs – and the problem for the past two decades is that football people were having to answer for Snyder’s unbelievable behavior, and it was a distraction,” Yates said. “It’s not that they haven’t been able to sign players or anything, but I think the football operation will feel such a weight off their shoulders for just not having to answer for their boss – and there’s no cap on how much you can spend on resources, so the factors that can be limited by an owner can also be boosted by an owner, especially one who is about to fork over a record price for the franchise.”
The future of the next stadium site, the practice facility, and other logistics are of course important parts of that, and Yates went into detail about how “behind” a team may be with subpar facilities – and how big upgrades can be for ownership to show players they are serious about winnings.
“The Bengals have been miles behind the rest of the league for a long time and have been one of the best teams lately, so good teams can overcome that,” Yates said. “But when you’re a player on a team pondering your future, you want to know how serious the organization is about winning, and that’s an opportunity for new ownership to show how serious they are about that.”
Check out Yates’ entire segment above, which includes thoughts about the 2023 on-field product, whether or not the Commanders should pick up Chase Young’s fifth-year option, and more!
Follow The Hoffman Show on Twitter: @CraigHoffman & @HoffmanShow
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