Washington Football Team to interview Eric Stokes for GM position

The Washington Football Team has already interviewed or requested to interview four different general manager candidates. They are Ryan Cowden (Titans), Martin Mayhew (49ers), JoJo Wooden (Chargers), and Nick Polk (Falcons).

Now, you can add another name to that list. And it’s an internal candidate.

According to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, Washington is going to be interviewing Eric Stokes for their GM opening.

About Washington Football Team executive Eric Stokes

Stokes is in his first year with Washington and is serving as the team’s Director of Pro Personnel. He has only been with the team since July, but he has already done a solid job of adding talent to the team’s roster.

Since July, Washington has added several players to the roster to add depth to the squad and play key roles for the team. David Sharpe was acquired via trade to serve as the team’s No. 4 offensive tackle. Casey Toohill was claimed off waivers to serve as edge rush depth for the team. And most notably, Taylor Heinicke was brought aboard to serve as a quarantine quarterback before establishing himself as a fan favorite with a great performance in the playoffs.

These moves weren’t massive ones, but they added quality depth, and that’s hard to do during the season. Stokes surely had a hand in them, so he deserves some credit for those moves.

Stokes also has a solid draft record dating back to his time with the Carolina Panthers. He was their director of college scouting and helped to add plenty of depth to their rosters, including the team’s 2015 roster that went on to make it all the way to Super Bowl 50. He also worked with Ron Rivera during that time.

Stokes has 20 years of scouting experience and was a fifth-round pick of the Seattle Seahawks back in 1997 and played a few seasons before an injury prematurely ended his career. His future is bright, so interviewing him for the GM job is a solid move.

Of course, Washington fans may want to see Kyle Smith be given a similar opportunity, but it appears that Rivera is focused on giving the GM job to a more experienced candidate. Maybe he’ll get an interview nonetheless, but even if he doesn’t, he’ll hopefully stay on board as the Vice President of Player Personnel in Washington. Or maybe he’ll be promoted to Assistant GM.

The same could be said of Stokes. Even if Rivera and Co. opt for an outside GM, they could still opt to promote Stokes and keep a young, promising member of the team’s front office around in a bigger role.

We’ll soon see what comes of this interview for Stokes. He has a good track record so giving him a chance to interview for the job was certainly a good move.