Rivera on Trent: "Enough blaming everybody, let’s find a solution so we can go forward."
Now that Ron Rivera is the new head coach of the Washington Redskins, the biggest immediate question is what is going to happen with disgruntled offensive tackle Trent Williams?
We know of Williams’ issues with the Redskins. And, whomever you choose to believe in the saga that was Williams vs. Bruce Allen & Larry Hess, the Redskins handled this situation poorly from the beginning.
Owner Daniel Snyder fired both Allen and Hess last Monday. And Williams’ good friend, running back Adrian Peterson, told reporters he could see Williams returning now that Allen was gone.
According to Les Carpenter of The Washington Post (subscription required), getting Williams back in the fold is a priority for Rivera. The Redskins replaced Hess with Ryan Vermillion, who was Rivera’s head trainer in Carolina. Per Carpenter, Vermillion is well-respected around the league by teams, players and the union.
After his introductory press conference on Thursday, Rivera spoke with JP Finlay of NBC Sports Washington for an interview. Finlay flat-out asked Rivera about Williams. “Well, that is something I’m going to sit down and talk with the powers-that-be, the folks, that you know, we’re all going to get together and discuss that as we go forward,” Rivera responded.
Rivera continued, “You know, I have an idea of how I want to sit down and visit with him, but for the most part right now you know we’re still trying to get our feet wet, um and get started and head in the right direction.”
That same day, Rivera also joined Chad Dukes of 106.7 The Fan for a one-on-one interview and when Dukes asked him about Williams, the coach again appeared excited to work things out with Williams.
“That is something we are going to continue to work on, it is a little bit of a process right now, and again we are going to get ready to approach this situation,” Rivera said. “But again, we’re going to have to go through this, it’s not about reaching out and saying ‘hey, let’s pat each other on the back,’ no it’s about making sure we all understand what happened, what’s at stake, and we get it corrected. You know, enough blaming everybody, let’s find a solution so we can go forward as a football team and he can go forward as a football player. That’s probably the best thing that can happen for us.”
One thing is certain, Rivera is not going to let this situation linger. He understands it needs a resolution, no matter which way it ends.
Getting Williams back in the fold means the Redskins aren’t desperate for a left tackle in the 2020 NFL Draft. It will still be a priority moving forward due to Williams’ age and injury history, but, as of 2018, he was still one of the premier offensive tackles in the league. Rivera understand this and prefers to put last season’s drama behind them and have his left tackle spot filled by Williams.
Now, it is up to Williams to determine what he wants. And the big question is will he come back and play without a contract that adds some guaranteed dollars, or ask to be traded in order to get that contract?
This will continue to be an interesting situation to monitor as we move forward, but I would expect a resolution much sooner than later as the Redskins now have an adult running things.
Bryan Manning has covered the NFL, MLB, NBA, college football and college basketball for almost 10 years for various outlets such as Bleacher Report, SB Nation, FanSided, USA Today SMG, and others. Bryan has covered the Washington Redskins for different outlets and currently co-hosts a podcast on the Virginia Tech Hokies for SB Nation. For his day job, Bryan works in engineering for a major communications company.
