The Commanders took the unusual step of holding interviews for a top front office role while keeping its general manager in a holding pattern. Rumors steadily connected Martin Mayhew to following Ron Rivera out the door, but the team conducted a reevaluation under new front office boss Adam Peters.
Peters’ San Francisco past looked to reopen the door to Mayhew staying in Washington; the two worked together with the 49ers. It looks like Peters still values Mayhew. The latter is en route to Senior Bowl workouts in Mobile, Ala., with Commanders staffers this week, according to ESPN.com’s John Keim, who indicates the former Washington GM is expected to stay with the team in 2024.
Hired to work alongside Rivera in 2021, Mayhew came to Washington after four years on John Lynch‘s staff. Lynch brought in both Peters and Mayhew in 2017; the latter finished his 49ers tenure as the team’s VP of player personnel. Mayhew’s new Washington title is not yet known, but after a reevaluation period, appears he will survive and stay with the team for a fourth year.
Mayhew, 58, has extensive history in Washington. He started at cornerback for the dominant 1991 team that won Super Bowl XXVI, becoming a four-year starter under Joe Gibbs despite being a former 10th-round pick. While Mayhew finished his playing career in Tampa, he is best remembered as a player for his time in Washington. GMs are not given second chances at the same rate as head coaches, which made Mayhew’s second shot — after a run as Lions GM from 2008-15 — an interesting effort on Washington’s part. The veteran exec managing to stick around despite new ownership cleaning house following a 4-13 season is perhaps even more intriguing.
Josh Harris is believed to have influenced the Rivera- and Mayhew-led football ops department to trade both Montez Sweat and Chase Young on deadline day, and a swift decline followed. The Commanders lost their final eight games, with Rivera becoming one of the most predictable coach firings in many years. Mayhew, Marty Hurney and Eric Stokes had been among those rumored to be on the chopping block alongside Rivera. Stokes, the Commanders’ senior player personnel director, is already at the Senior Bowl, per Keim.
Being at the Senior Bowl representing a team is not a guarantee of long-term employment. Clubs regularly dismiss front office personnel — particularly those in scouting roles — after the draft to avoid shaking up personnel after extensive draft prep has already commenced. But Keim’s report points Mayhew to staying alongside Peters. It is not clear if Stokes and Hurney, who each worked with Rivera in Carolina prior to rejoining him in Washington, will join him for the long haul.
Feels like a pity holdover but probably easier than interrupting the current offseason plans. Last 3 years of drafts haven’t been great but always hard to tell who was making the calls in Washington. Would’ve liked a complete clean house just for optics but Mayhew is fairly irrelevant anyway.
I think it just allows an easier transition. Things above board were probably garbage when Snyder came in, Harris comes in cleans house, has new standards etc, and Mayhew knows them.
Peters comes in, has familiarity with Mayhew, his communication style, has an ability to work with him in the past etc; Mayhew has a familiarity with the new standards Harris and Co want, is then kept to be a high level transitory executive for the new guard for the Commanders. Seems like pretty simple dots to connect.
Ah yes, the GM of those juggernaut Lions teams from 2008-2015… the ones with all that talent & all of those wins. And he’s continued his success, building a contender in DC. *insert Borat voice, “NOT”*
I was just startled to learn Mayhew was drafted in the tenth round. Hard to believe it’s been 27 years since they dropped to seven.
Some interesting trivia: Brian Habib was drafted 2 spots behind Mayhew in the 1988 draft and also won a SB ring (as part of the Broncos team in 1997).
I think in a lot of these conversations, people would be well served to remember the Peter Principle: the tendency for people to rise in a hierarchy until they reach the level of their incompetence. Just because someone was a mediocre head coach doesn’t mean they can’t go back to being a good coordinator. Just because someone was unsuccessful as head of a front office doesn’t mean they can’t be a good lieutenant.