'Rivera Strong' Is Right; WFT Boss To Inform Snyder Of Plan
ASHBURN, Va. - As his first year at the helm of the Washington Football Team officially wrapped up on Sunday, coach Ron Rivera did not say he was going to ask Dan Snyder about the organization's future and its two upcoming major decisions.
Rivera will be telling the owner of the plans.
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"Rivera Strong'' has an important meaning to all WFT followers; it's about the coach's inspirational bout with cancer. But this is a different sort of "strength'': This is about right-minded power when it comes to the building of a winning football team.
The coach is going to meet with the owner about Rivera's plan at quarterback and about what to do about a general manager - and instrumental to "the plan'' is who is telling whom about it.
This is about Rivera's intentions, which means two things:
1) He has been thinking about and planning both decisions. As he should have been.
2) More importantly, it once again shows who is boss. For now and moving forward.
Regarding the Saturday ouster from the NFL Playoffs at the hands of Tampa Bay ... Fish wrote about Taylor Heinicke's performance knocking the door open for another contender at the position. And we also have a lot more from FedExField on Heinicke and the QB situation right here. ...
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Benching QB Dwayne Haskins and then eventually releasing him stunningly surely convinced folks to understand who is in control. If you don't know already - now you should know.
It's Ron Rivera. And he has all the juice.
Snyder has demonstrated himself not capable of making football decisions; his recognition of that fact is key. Rivera might make decisions with which we disagree - but he has a feel for doing the right thing, and a football resume to back it all up.
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"What’ll happen is we will get together tomorrow as coaches and we’ll talk about doing our evaluations," Rivera said. "I will visit with the owner at some point, whether it’s tonight or tomorrow, and basically talk to him about my intent going forward. From that point on, we’ll start the evaluation process of our football team.
"Obviously, the quarterback situation will be one of the topics of conversation.”
As for the quarterback spot. Alex Smith has two non-guaranteed years left. It's believed that Heinicke is a free agent but what type is unclear at the moment. Kyle Allen is an exclusive-rights free agent. And Washington has free agency and the draft to also potentially address the situation.
The answer(s) will not be easy, as we illustrate below.
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As for the general manager position: We've been told, and written about, the names Marty Hurney (ex Panthers GM), Bills assistant GM Joe Shoen, former Lions GM and current 49ers executive Martin Mayhew and Titans VP of player personnel Ryan Cowden, who all figure to be in the mix. We will have more details on this coming up. Perhaps WFT can add two experts to work with Rivera, one as a GM and one as a senior executive?
The answers are unknown. But the interesting angle is that owner Dan Snyder is about to find out those answers ... right along with the rest of us.
