Report: Redskins almost hired former Texans GM Rick Smith before hiring Ron Rivera

The Washington Redskins reportedly came close to hiring former Houston Texans GM Rick Smith to run their team before hiring Ron Rivera as their head coach.

The Washington Redskins addressed their uncertainty on the coaching staff very early in the offseason by hiring Ron Rivera after he was fired by the Carolina Panthers. As for their front office, they are still very much in flux.

With Bruce Allen gone, the triumvirate of Eric Schaffer, Doug Williams, and Kyle Smith will likely run the team this offseason along with help from Rivera. But evidently, the team wasn’t always dead-set on letting this group run things. In fact, they almost hired a new GM/President type before agreeing to hire Rivera.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Redskins were targeting former Texans GM Rick Smith as their next front office leader. But Snyder ultimately elected to take a coach-centric approach with his team, as Schefter detailed in his latest article.

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"Sources familiar with the situation expected a deal to get done and Smith to be in charge of the Redskins.But Snyder ultimately opted to run his franchise through his head coach instead of a president, bestowing the power to Rivera, who was officially hired Wednesday."

The hire of Rivera was certainly a good thing, but the decision not to bring Smith aboard is curious. He was one of the more respected general managers in the league in his decade-plus time running Houston. And Smith only stepped down from the job for two reasons. He was clashing with Bill O’Brien who tried to pull power moves in the front office and his wife, Tiffany, was battling breast cancer.

But now, Smith appears ready to take on a big role in the NFL moving forward. And the Redskins could have used his leadership.

Smith came in as the No. 3 overall option in our top-10 GMs to hire after the departure of Allen. Here’s what I said about Smith’s candidacy in that piece.

"He was instrumental in building the defense up with guys like J.J. Watt, DeMeco Ryans, Brian Cushing, Connor Barwin, Whitney Mercilus, and Kareem Jackson being selected under his watch. Additionally, his decision to draft Duane Brown solidified the left tackle position for a decade while Deshaun Watson ended up being a perfect remedy for the team after the ill-fated signing of Brock Osweiler. As a result of these solid drafts, the Texans eventually became a playoff team and a contender in the AFC South.…Smith is a very strong candidate who had longevity in Houston and turned the team into a contender with the right moves. He could do the same for the Redskins, especially if his evaluation skills are still solid and he can continue to hire the right coaches."

Smith was always forward-thinking and while he did have some misses, like the noted Brock Osweiler signing, he made the right move more often than not. He brought stability to the Texans with Gary Kubiak. He correctly chose Mario Williams over Reggie Bush. The list goes on and on.

But alas, Snyder took a different approach. And now, the power lies with Rivera. He will help run the front office this offseason along with the incumbents.

That said, that arrangement may not last long, as Adam Schefter notes on Twitter.

In a lot of circumstances, holding onto a staff to finish up the offseason work can make sense. After all, they’ve done the work to prepare for free agency and the draft. Why start anew with such a small window of time to work out a new plan that fits the new leader?

That said, the Redskins had a chance to bring in a respected executive to take over the front office and continue the winds of change. So, it’s fair to wonder if they should have just gone for it, as a Smith-Rivera combo would have a great chance to succeed. Alas, they didn’t. And now, the pressure has been ratcheted up as the front office executives in Redskins Park are all fighting and evaluating for their jobs.

Maybe Smith and Rivera wouldn’t have worked well together or didn’t share the same vision. And maybe the Redskins wanted to give their current front office staff a chance to make a case for bigger roles. But if they did, in fact, pass on Smith to wait five months to hire a GM, that seems like a questionable move. They do have a decent front office right now without Allen, so it could work. But if they end up with a lesser candidate than Smith in May, that may not sit well with Redskins fans.

Conversely, if they hire someone who Redskins fans really like (such as Louis Riddick) then this decision may not matter. For now, we’re in wait-and-see mode on the team’s front office, but this is certainly a notable move and decision by Dan Snyder.