This Halloween was a spooky day for Commander fans as they received the news of not one but two trades that happened prior to the 4:00 PM deadline.
The Washington Commanders sent DE Montez Sweat to the Chicago Bears in exchange for a second-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
For most Commander fans, the move turned out much better than expected, as Sweat’s contract was set to expire this year and the possibility of no return was very real. In return, they receive a second-round pick that will hold a lot of value next year as it belonged to the 2-6 Bears.
The spook for Washington came twenty minutes prior to 3:00 p.m. when former number two overall pick Chase Young was sent to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
The idea that both would be traded seemed unlikely but not out of the picture, as Washington showed reluctance to work towards a new deal with both of their star players.
Now that the trade is complete and has settled for a couple hours, I still have yet to understand and give myself, as a personal fan of the Commanders, any sort of reasoning as to why we traded both players.
It is no question that both edges were going to cost a hefty penny in the upcoming free agency period, and there was always a chance of them walking for nothing.
For a team with a young quarterback on a cheap contract and talent filled all over the field, how could you not find a way to keep one in Washington?
The defense this year has been severely underperforming with the expectations it had going into the year, but Young and Sweat were performing at a higher level than anyone else on the defense.
Which is why I believe it simply comes down to “out with the old and in with the new”.
Josh Harris bought the team this summer, and the feeling of change is certainly real in Washington, but it is hard to say that anything on the field has actually changed.
Ron Rivera, who serves as the head coach currently, joined the team in 2020 and came back in with the intentions of rebuilding, and he was always quick to remind the press that it is a multi-year plan and that it will not happen overnight.
It is now year four for Rivera and crew, and with a new owner in town and a genius at the offensive helm calling plays, it seems that Riverboats days are coming to an end in Washington.
Since joining in 2020, Rivera has posted a 25-32-1 record, certainly nothing to write home about. When Rivera joined the team to begin with, he was essentially thrown into a dumpster fire. The team was coming off one of the worst seasons in team history, and their owner was in the midst of various amounts of scandal. To make matters worse for Rivera, he joined a team right in the midst of the pandemic lockdown and was later diagnosed with cancer.
Rivera overcoming his battle with cancer and getting back to the team to coach had a great effect on Washington and was the backbone of the 7-9 playoff team that almost beat Brady’s Super Bowl Bucs team.
In Rivera’s tenure, there have also been many hiccups along the way, most famously when Washington played the Cleveland Browns last year in Week 16 and Rivera was unaware that Washington still had a shot at the playoffs. Most recently, Rivera and DC Jack Del Rio benched rookie Emmanuel Forbes following his performance against A.J. Brown in week four, but then brought out Forbes once again to match against Brown in week eight.
After 25+ years of almost-and-should haves and hiccups for Washington fans, there simply needs to be a change, and I believe that is what the Josh Harris crew is recognizing.
Rivera, Jack Del Rio, Chase Young, Montez Sweat, and more are all part of the Snyder/Rivera regime, and Washington is ready to do a reset once again. It still begs the question of why your former number two overall pick, who is only 24 years old, was not part of that reset.
Washington now holds five picks within the top 100 of the NFL draft and has created a bit of breathing space in the free agent market following the trades of sweat and young.
Ultimately, time will tell what unfolds in Washington, as Harris is not known for firing coaches midway through the year, but it seems Washington’s focus may be on Eric Bieniemy and Sam Howell for the years to come.
