Adam Peters made another addition to the Washington Commanders front office with Monday's reported hiring of former Panthers general manager Scott Fitterer to a personnel executive role who will "support the front office and scouting departments" in D.C.
Kevin Sheehan called it "another recognizable name" joining Peters' revamped front office, and highlighted Fitterer's extensive NFL experience before working in Carolina, including spending 20 years in Seattle.
Of course, Sheehan also noted that it did not work out for Washington's newest addition in Carolina. The Panthers went 14-37 in the last three seasons (worst record in league during that span), they appeared to have not picked the best quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft when they had the No. 1 overall selection, and Fitterer was fired in January.
Having said that, "They weren't very good before he got there and he had to work for David Tepper," Sheehan said, adding that Tepper ming now be "the worst owner in the National Football League" taking that mantle from Dan Snyder "as the most destructive and the most meddling owner in the league."
Fitterer also had to work with first-time NFL head coach Matt Rhule – who also had player personnel input during his time in Carolina.
But overall, Fitterer's "draft choices haven't worked out, not yet anyway," Sheehan said, noting they passed on CJ Stroud for Bryce Young.
On the plus side, multiple people noted that signing Frankie Luvu – who just signed with Washington this offseason – was Fitterer's best signing in Carolina.
In reality, this addition is just one of many that have come as Josh Harris gets his first chance to revamp the Washington franchise and the scale of the revamping has Sheehan thinking very positively about the future.
"I don't know what this means, I don't know what all of these hires mean," Sheehan continued. "The front office now has some recognizable names. It's loaded. It's top-loaded. Adam Peters is the general manager, Lance Newmark – long-time NFL exec – is the assistant GM. [Brandon] Sosna is the Senior VP of Football Ops. They hired the guy from the League, Dave Gardi... they hired him to be the senior VP of Football Initiatives, not even sure what that necessarily means.
"Rob Rogers remans as the VP of Football Administration. Martin Mayhew stuck around, former GM, as a senior personnel executive and advisor to Peters. And now Fitterr is a personnel exectuve. David Blackburn they brought in from the Ravens, he's director of player personnel."
Sheehan said he doesn't know if the Commanders have the makings of a great front office – "remember Adam Peters has never been a general manager before – but there is something to him that is very clear watching the period from the first seven months: "First of all, the front office is larger than it's ever been. Secondly, the front office includes more football executive front office experience than it ever has. I mean it never was this under Snyder. And prior to Snyder, you just didn't have the wherewithal to have a front office this big and loaded with this many recognizable names.
"And then thirdly, what's really become apparent about this offseason starting with the firing of Ron Rivera and then the remaking of this organization, ... is that Washington isn't a turnoff anymore. It's not a toxic turnoff anymore. People who are highly thought of around the league are not afraid to come here anymore. I mean that's one of the biggest takeaways from this offseason.
"I mean, I think we knew it would be a lot better, but being able to attract the No. 1 general manager candidate on the market this cycle was a huge deal. [Peters] had other options. Attracting the likes of Sosna and Newmark and Gardi and Fitterr and Blackburn, etc. ... This place was hands-off for anybody that had options for a decade plus. People stopped taking the money that was offered because they knew it was just a dead-end. And it's not anymore. It's no guarantee of anything. The only thing it's guaranteed to be is more functional than it's ever been."
Catch the full take from The Kevin Sheehan Show on the audio player above!