The Commanders are parting ways with Eric Stokes.
Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post broke the news Thursday. It marks another indication that the Ron Rivera era greatly failed in player personnel decisions.
The Commanders are not renewing the contract of senior director of player personnel Eric Stokes, per source.
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) May 9, 2024
Rivera hired Stokes in 2020 to serve as the Director of Pro Personnel. For the past two seasons (2022 & 2023), Stokes served as the Senior Director of Player Personnel.
In his latest role with the Commanders, Stokes oversaw the day-to-day operations of the personnel department.
Stokes was one of the many “Commanthers” Ron Rivera brought with him from the Carolina Panthers. While with the Panthers, Stokes served as the Director of College Scouting from 2016-19.
Washington general manager Adam Peters has made wholesale changes to the roster. So many changes have been made that the Commanders are actually returning the lowest percentage of 2023 players than any other team in the NFL. That is not only an indictment of the players themselves who are not returning but also of the previous player personnel department.
For example, during the 2023 free agency signing period, Washington signed Marcus Kemp, Drew Himmelman, Cameron Dantzler, Andrew Wylie, Cody Barton, Jacoby Brissett, Nick Gates, Abdullah Anderson Jr. and Trent Scott.
The former Nebraska Cornhusker defensive back was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round (142 overall) of the 1997 NFL Draft.
In his two NFL seasons, Stokes played in seven games in 1997 and four more games in the 1998 season, contributing to 11 tackles in his brief NFL career.
Stokes began his post-playing career in Seattle as a scout, holding various roles for the Seahawks before moving on to the Buccaneers, Dolphins, Panthers and Commanders.