After not employing a general manager in 2020, Washington now has three ex-GMs in its front office. The team hired former Colts GM Chris Polian on Monday.
Joining Martin Mayhew and Marty Hurney in Washington’s new-look front office, Polian will serve as the team’s director of pro personnel. The former Colts GM was out of the league last season but was with the Jaguars from 2013-19.
The son of Hall of Fame executive Bill Polian, Chris served as Indianapolis’ GM from 2009-11 and has been an NFL staffer since 1994 — when the yet-to-debut Panthers, run by Bill Polian, hired him. Chris Polian has not worked with Mayhew or Hurney previously, despite Hurney’s 1998 Carolina arrival. The Polians were in Indianapolis by then. But the younger Polian was connected to the Lions’ GM search to replace Mayhew in 2015. He also was in the mix for the Titans’ GM job that went to Jon Robinson in 2016.
Chris Polian will succeed Eric Stokes as Washington’s pro personnel director, but Stokes is still with the team. The GM candidate is now serving as Washington’s senior director of player personnel. Ron Rivera and Kyle Smith served as Washington’s top personnel execs last year. Smith is now with the Falcons, while Rivera will remain a key presence on this front. In addition to Smith, Washington parted ways with assistant director of pro scouting Jeff Scott, per John Keim of ESPN.com. Scott received a promotion just last summer.
Must be nice to have a father running an NFL franchise, hardest part of this business is getting a foot in the door, but if Pops is running the show you get that as a graduation gift.
Jealous much?
This seems like typical NFL churn. Regardless of your track record, once you have that foot in the door, there will always be someone willing to hire you. This is why teams like Washington struggle for 25 years at a time.