Here was no great mystery to solve.
But Ron Rivera confirmed what was widely accepted when Washington Football Team released Dwayne Haskins on Monday.
The decision was his. Of course, he first contacted owner Daniel Snyder. But he calls.
“I made the decision,” Rivera said Wednesday, according to the Washington Post. ‘I have informed the owner of my decision. He was supportive, and that was just something I felt we should do. This was something that, in my opinion, was in the best interests of both parties. ”
Haskins was never Rivera’s guy
Rivera’s admission comes as no surprise. He was not on the team when he drafted Haskins in the first round of the NFL Draft in 2019. Rivera has beaten Haskins twice this season, including during the awful performance against the Carolina Panthers. He also stripped Haskins of his captaincy after violating the NFL’s COVID-19 protocol.
That Rivera made the call is obvious. But it remains remarkable.
Snyder was previously ‘fixed’ on Haskins
It is widely believed that Snyder chose Haskins with the No. 15 pick in 2019 by hand. He was reportedly ‘fixed’ on the Ohio State quarterback and had no interviews but Haskins’ at the combination.
The scenario contains Snyder’s top-down involvement that has plagued his tenure as owner since he bought the franchise in 1999 – a 22-year reign of dysfunction, failure, incompetence and alleged misconduct.
For longtime fans who have witnessed the glory days of Joe Gibbs with three Lombardi trophies, nothing would be sweeter than the appalling owner of the franchise its disgraceful shadow. Since the option is out of the question – at least for now – Snyder has to step back and allow people who are capable of football to make competent football decisions, the next best thing.
And it turns out he might be doing it for the first time since buying his favorite team.
Did Snyder actually relinquish football control?
Snyder promised he would hand over the keys to Rivera when he hired him last season. Rivera has emerged as a respected coach and manager with years of experience in the NFL. It was the exact kind of rent a landlord was willing to hand over control to someone who knew better than he would make.
But still, it’s Snyder we’m talking about. Is he really going to let Rivera run the show? Can he really resist his urge to control?
So far, he seems to have.
By making decisions such as resigning from Haskins and cutting Derrius Guice in August, Rivera is acting on what appears to be legal autonomy in football decisions. Is the autonomy – at least in part – due to Snyder’s focus on and onslaught on off-field litigation? Perhaps. The cultural change promised and needed in Washington extends far beyond the soccer field.
But until – and if – Snyder is forced to sell, any sign of his relinquishment power in the organization is a step in the right direction. And Washington fans will rejoice.
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