Former Redskins RB Chris Thompson feels team is in the right hands

Loyalty sometimes goes unrewarded in the NFL. Regime changes only compound that truth. Former Redskins running back Chris Thompson learned this in the 2020 offseason.

For the better part of the previous decade, Chris Thompson had been one of the Washington Redskins‘ most dependable veterans in the locker room — a multifaceted player who was willing to do whatever he needed to make an impact. He espoused the kind of resilience through adversity that you’d expect from a fifth-round pick who battled through injuries and practice squad designations to become a major contributor in his third season.

Thompson’s breakout came at a time of hope for the franchise, as the Redskins rode a surprising emergence from Kirk Cousins and finished the 2015 season with a record of 9-7, securing a playoff berth as a division winner. The years following wouldn’t be as fruitful for the team, but Thompson never wavered, and in fact played his best football in 2017; he was on pace to have well over 1,000 yards from scrimmage, before being sidelined in Week 11.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and after Thompson’s impact decreased over the past two campaigns, he was officially let go in free agency of this year. At 29 years old, Thompson was near the end of his projected shelf life. It was a business move, and with one of Thompson’s biggest advocates, Jay Gruden, now gone, the timing made sense. But as ESPN’s John Keim documented, it was still hard for Thompson to accept his fate.

“I almost did cry, almost did,” Thompson said of his final goodbyes.

What made it even more challenging for Thompson, as Keim writes, is that he was able to witness the team’s changing of the guard in early January, and he felt confident in the changes that Dan Snyder had made on the team’s staff.

“That’s what makes it harder,” Thompson said, per Keim. “I truly feel that things are about to change there and in a really good way. I always wanted to be part of this team when it all turned around. … I wanted to be with one team for my entire career — not only on the team, but to make a big impact.”

There were times in Thompson’s career where it looked like the Redskins might turn the corner. The 2015 season. The late-season stretch of 2016. Alex Smith’s 6-3 start in 2018. Thompson’s dream never came to pass. The NFL can be cruel, in that way. Storybook endings are reserved for a select few.

But Thompson isn’t hanging his head. He has a new opportunity with the Jacksonville Jaguars, in a young running back room that will surely value his experience and leadership. And Thompson, a loyal member of the Redskins for so long, feels that the franchise is being left in the right hands. The rebuild inside the building has barely even begun, but from a player who’s seen so much dysfunction, that should mean something. Only a bit, but something, nonetheless.