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The day after Bruce Allen, what’s next for the Redskins?

By Tim Payne

LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 17: Team president Bruce Allen of the Washington Redskins walks on the field prior to the game against the New York Jets at FedExField on November 17, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images)
LANDOVER, MD - NOVEMBER 17: Team president Bruce Allen of the Washington Redskins walks on the field prior to the game against the New York Jets at FedExField on November 17, 2019 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Will Newton/Getty Images) /
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INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – NOVEMBER 10: Peyton Manning on the stage in the induction ceremony of Dwight Freeney into the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor during halftime of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 10, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA – NOVEMBER 10: Peyton Manning on the stage in the induction ceremony of Dwight Freeney into the Indianapolis Colts Ring of Honor during halftime of the game against the Miami Dolphins at Lucas Oil Stadium on November 10, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /

5. The Popular Former Player (PFP).

Chris Cooley, anyone? DeAngelo Hall? Alex Smith? Why not John Riggins or Doc Walker?  Those guys all know a ton about football. They’re old-school Redskins at heart. They know what it takes to be successful in the NFL on a personal level.

Maybe Doug Williams should be given more power, or maybe they can get Darrell Green or London Fletcher to come run the team. The list of PFPs is almost endless. And it’s understandable that fans have a special place in their hearts for some key players from recent and bygone eras.

What about Peyton Manning? He’s smart, funny, and has produced some cool football content after his playing career ended. And with the recent successes of John Elway (performance since losing Peyton Manning notwithstanding) and John Lynch, there is some reason for optimism that former players can be successful lead executives.

Washington Commanders
Washington Commanders /

Washington Commanders

But again, like with the other categories, there’s plenty of failures to point out. Likely, Elway will prove to be a failure in the role. Matt Millen certainly struggled to build a winner in Detroit.

Generally, more former players have been given the opportunity to flame out as coaches, rather than executives. But in both cases, the blind fandom that leads to assuming a guy good at catching footballs will also be successful at running a franchise could be crippling to a franchise if it infects the decision-making hierarchy.

My Prediction: None of the guys listed, aside from Peyton Manning, has the requisite skins on the wall to demand the type of autonomy that would be required for success. Whether they could be successful is beyond anyone’s ability to predict.

But their hire in a GM or Team President capacity would rightly be seen more as the result of Dan Snyder grasping at straws to gain fan approval, rather than actually making sound decisions to improve his franchise.

The Peyton Manning idea certainly is worth exploring, but would, like Ozzie Newsome, require a very long contract including complete contractual autonomy to run the entire organization and an ownership stake. Translation: He’s not coming.

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