Washington NFL Team Could Have New Name in Two Weeks?

Training camp for the Washington franchise and the rest of the NFL is scheduled to start on Tuesday July 28th.

That's less than three weeks from right now.

Assuming that date holds, the Washington NFL franchise could already have a new name.

We know that Ron Rivera wants to move to the finish line as quickly as possible and he recently suggested that he would like to see a name change get done before the season starts (September 13th).

Now, the Washington Post says the timeline could be sooner.

Per the Post report: "Multiple people with knowledge of the situation said an announcement could come sooner, with at least one believing it could be revealed within the next two weeks.

Clearly - nobody should think this is anything definitive.

But keep in mind that the team will be reporting to Ashburn shortly and more importantly, the organization almost surely wants nothing to do with Rivera answering a non-stop swarm of ridiculous questions.

It will be relentless if the organization hits the pause button on the name change or slow-plays it.

Even though, that's what they should do. This is not a decision to be rushed because as we've said repeatedly, it's a forever name and you cannot risk making a mistake and leaving the door wide open for the Fighting (Mike) Florio's and the rest of the media to bash you upside the head.

You cannot have any connection in any way with Native American imagery. It will not work. It's a terrible idea. Don't do it.

Here's what you can do. Announce the day before training camp that you will change the name and keep the burgundy and gold colors.

In the same announcement - the team should announce that they are creating a completely different logo with no Native American imagery of any kind and that they will take their time to thoroughly evaluate all options besides changing the color scheme.

Why? Fans that are disgruntled that you are changing the name can hang on to calling them the "burgundy and gold" which many do already.

This is simple, common sense stuff. You don't need a new name by July 28th. You need the strength to say we are going to do it and do it right.

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Chris Russell is the Publisher of this site, a part of SI.com. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621