The Commanders have already made one coaching change this season with defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio being fired. More changes are expected, though, which would make the team one to watch in the upcoming hiring cycle. 
Head coach Ron Rivera is in his fourth season in Washington, and the 2023 campaign will be the third which ends in a losing record. The Commanders have made just one playoff appearance in his tenure (due to a division-winning 7-9 record in 2020), leading many to view this season as his last. Signs continue to point that way, and a firing after the end of the season would leave the team in need of a new coach for the first time since Josh Harris became owner.
“From an outside perspective, Washington is the best job now that Dan Snyder doesn’t own it,” one coaching agent said about a potential Commanders vacancy (h/t Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post).
The emergence of Sam Howell as a genuine starting quarterback this season is among the top reasons coaching candidates could be attracted to a posting in the nation’s capital. The 2022 fifth-rounder has served as the team’s starter throughout the 2023 campaign, offering reasons to believe he can retain the job for years to come. While his 14 interceptions and 58 sacks taken lead the league, Howell has reached 300 passing yards five times this season while adding 243 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.
In addition to a potential quarterback of the future, the Commanders are set to have five picks within the top 100 of April’s draft. That is due to the decision to trade both Montez Sweat and Chase Young at the deadline, moves which eliminated the requirement of signing either edge rusher to a new deal in the offseason. Washington is currently projected to have the second-most cap 2024 cap space in the league, so a busy offseason could be in store for the front office.
On that note, it very much remains to be seen if general manager Martin Mayhew will be retained after the campaign. It would come as little surprise if Harris were to clean house on the sidelines and in the front office in his first full offseason in charge, and the Commanders’ 19-27-1 record during Mayhew’s time in Washington could justify a shake-up in its own right. Replacing him could be a priority for Harris and the new ownership group before hiring a Rivera successor.
The Raiders and Panthers have already moved on from the coaches they had at the start of the season, and they will be involved in searches for outside hires in the near future. Other teams will no doubt join them once the campaign is over, so the Commanders will have competition with respect to bringing in an in-demand coaching candidate. If the franchise is seen as one worth committing to, however, they could gain an edge on others in their search for a new bench boss.
Five million bucks a year and a buncha draft picks heck ya it seems attractive. Only catch is you gotta live and work in DC lol suckers
Actually the facilty is in Ashburn, VA – no coaches or players live in DC.
Almost none of these dudes live in the actual city. I can’t imagine dudes buying houses in Detroit proper, Baltimore proper, Houston proper, DC proper, etc. but even those cities have some nicer neighborhoods/parts of town. The suburbs (Falls Church, VA; Alexandria, VA; Silver Spring, MD) are some of the more desirable suburbs in the country.
I don’t agree. This ownership group is cash-strapped, the team is burdened by a bad name/poor local support, and their stadium issue is unresolved. Not to mention the lack of a quality QB…
Will any name free agent sign-on to play there when there are about a dozen better places/people to play for?
I agree with a lot what you said except “lack of a quality qb…”
Howell has made significant strides as Year 2 quarterback and is a gamer. Some of you act like quarterbacks grow on trees and if he’s not throwing for 4,000 yards, 40 td’s, and 2 INTs by his second year, he’s garbage. It’s no small jump from college to the NFL and some take more than a year. Not everyone is CJ Stroud. Plus, it’s a TEAM sport not tennis or golf.
Just for fun. If Howell, Purdy, and Tommy DeVito pan out while many 1st rounders flop; what does it say NFL scouting departments?
None can be worse than the Jets…
Throw in Jake Browning to that too ( undrafted)
So many potentially great QB’s in this next draft. Would your rather have a new QB or add another position? Marvin Harrison JR?
I would take Bo Nixon in a second if he is available.
Howell isn’t quality by what metrics? He’s not great, but he’s a first year QB putting up very promising numbers and passing the eye test. I’d say he’s already quality, as he’s probably pretty firmly in the top 20 ahead of guys like M. Jones, Z. Wilson, Young, O’Connell, Ridder, D. Jones, Love, Pickett, etc.
Washington has also floated changing the name again, and Josh Harris is a much better option than Daniel Snyder and people still went to DC to play for Synder.
I think it’s decently desirable now. More than places with openings/potential openings like Carolina and Chicago.
It would have been more attractive with Sweat and Young signed to extensions.
But that salary cap thing….
I disagree. They were a mid level defense the entire time they were in DC. Whether that’s due to coaching or not, all new GM & HC’s want ‘their player’s. Smart to get picks for them.
The support hasn’t dropped that much. Game attendance is down a bit due to the downhill season and lame duck staff.
The stadium issues they ran into previously have mostly dissipated once the team was sold.
The ownership group had to gather a NFL required amount of liquid assets to purchase the team. That does not equate to cash strapped. They’ll spend money like everyone else.
I suppose all HC positions are attractive if your objective is to develop and ulcer, lose your hair and sacrifice your family life for most of the year.