The Washington Football Team has one of the more unique front-office situations in the league. It’s an approach owner Daniel Snyder labeled as “coach-centric” when he hired Ron Rivera after the 2019 season.
In Rivera’s first season in Washington, vice president of player personnel, Kyle Smith, ran the draft. However, at the end of the 2020 season, Rivera restructured Washington’s front office, allowing Smith to walk.
Rivera named former Detroit general manager — and Washington cornerback — Martin Mayhew as the new general manager in January. Rivera also hired his former general manager in Carolina, Marty Hurney, executive vice president of football/player personnel.
Some around the league saw it as strange. Who reported to who? Well, Mayhew made it clear when he was hired, he would report directly to Rivera.
So, who is actually in charge?
Make no mistake, Rivera has the final say. But, both Mayhew and Hurney have considerable input in all personnel matters.
Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com recently released his list of the top GMs from 1-32. Instead of Rosenthal naming one Washington GM on his list, he named all three and offered the following take:
This is one of the most confusing setups in the league, but Hurney and Mayhew made it clear after their hires in January that Rivera is in charge. The irony here is that Rivera’s first draft in Washington, spearheaded by Kyle Smith, was terrific, with Antonio Gibson and safety Kamren Curl adding to a no-brainer pick of Chase Young at No. 2 overall.
A total of 23 GMs were ranked. Anyone hired in the most recent hiring cycle did not make the list, and that included Washington’s triumvirate of decision-makers.
Chris Ballard of the Indianapolis Colts was the No. 1 ranked general manager.
