Sure, the team still does not have a true starting quarterback, is picking in the middle of the first round in April, and has not finished above .500 since 2015, but times are changing in the nation’s capital.
Hot off winning his second Super Bowl as an assistant to Andy Reid in Kansas City, Eric Bieniemy was lured away to Ron Rivera’s staff with the Commanders. Bieniemy, 53, was at the forefront of head coaching searches in the past few years, only to remain the top assistant to Reid. His two-year contract would be perfect timing if Rivera is fired during the 2023 season, as it would be easier to restructure when removing the interim tag when the time comes.
Rivera has yet to guide Washington to a winning record in three seasons, with his best being their 8-8-1 mark in 2022. Despite finishing last in the NFC East, the Commanders were just a half game out of the final Wild Card spot in the NFC, brought on by the idiotic fact the NFL still has ties within their rules.
If the NHL can make the game better by removing ties starting in 2005, why must the NFL change every other rule fans question but this one?
The Commanders only have $6.97 million in salary cap room going into next season, but are likely to cut quarterback Carson Wentz, which will free up $26.1 million more. Sam Howell was picked in the fifth round last year, and will only make $960,000 in 2023 under his rookie contract. No one is expecting Howell to be the future, while Taylor Heinicke is testing the free agency waters after taking Wentz’s job last year.
The Commanders would need a lot of capital to jump into the top 10 to get someone that can start when Training Camp breaks in July. The problem is that Washington does not have the capital of picks needed to move up, short of trading a top-tier player like Chase Young.
Washington if you remember won the NFC East in 2020 with a 7-9 record. While they would lose to Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round, this shows just how fast the NFL can turn upside down. When the Commanders win a division with a losing record, only to have all four teams finish .500 or better just two years later shows just how fickle the schedule makers can be. Keep in mind it was Tom Brady’s Buccaneers who won the NFC South with a losing record this year, just two years removed from winning the Super Bowl.
Now a story comes out from ESPN that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has hired Allen & Company to research the idea of putting in a bid on the franchise. Remember that current owner Dan Snyder hired Bank of America in November to oversee any transactions involving the franchise, which many predict will include a sale in the very near future.
Snyder has long since been a target by the media, fans and federal investigators for his business and ethical practices. In 2013 he vowed never to change the name of the franchise, only to finally do so under intense scrutiny in 2020 in the wake of civil unrest following the heinous George Floyd incident. Then in July of 2020, Bezos’s Washington Post publication ran a series of reports detailing discrimination and harassment, with several being sexual, by both men and women within the franchise dating back over a decade.
Say whatever you will for negative reports that have been made by Amazon workers in recent years, or his self-funded trip to space, Bezos would do far more for the greater good of the franchise and the D.C. metropolitan area, than Snyder already has in just trying to keep his reputation in an adequate light.
-JC24