Kyle Smith has ‘inside track’ on winning Redskins GM job after NFL Draft

It’s been so interesting to watch the Washington Redskins fill out their coaching office over the past month that sometimes it’s easy to forget that they are still operating without a general manager at the front of it all.

Rather, under Dan Snyder’s new ‘coach centric’ approach, it’s been Ron Rivera who is doing most of the decision making when it comes to franchise personnel, while Kyle Smith, who was promoted to the VP of Player Personnel earlier this year, is heading up the scouting process for free agency and the NFL Draft.

However, things likely won’t operate this way forever. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, there are two strong candidates for the Redskins’ general manager position, and Smith is definitely in the running.

For the #Panthers, they’ll have some better options after the draft as contracts of some execs run out. For the #Redskins, they can take their time but also evaluate Kyle Smith to see if he should be the one with the GM title. He’ll likely be a candidate, either way. https://t.co/iEYxx9taFM

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 7, 2020

Nothing is likely to happen until after the NFL Draft in April, so Washington has time to assess their options. According to JP Finlay, with NBC Sports Washington, Smith can basically win the job if he delivers on another strong draft.

My take on the Redskins GM spot is Kyle Smith has that role now and the inside track on keeping it. Marty Hurney could change that, long track record with Rivera, but Ron has known Kyle since he was a kid too.

— JP Finlay (@JPFinlayNBCS) February 7, 2020