Each year, for the past six years, The Athletic has published an annual agent survey, where they ask movers and shakers around the league various questions about teams, players, and league processes.
Historically, Washington has performed miserably in these surveys, with league sources describing the team as one of the least trusted in the league, and former front office staff, like Bruce Allen, as among the least well-regarded in the NFL.
Based on this year’s survey, however, things seem to be turning around a bit.
For instance, out of 30 respondents, eight of them (27%) considered Washington to be the franchise with “the best offseason.” A couple of those responses are below.
• “Commanders. The front office and coaching needed seismic changes. They were wise in free agency and drafted a quarterback (Jayden Daniels) at two. I do not see immediate success, but adding the required building blocks has begun.”
• “Dan Quinn is the perfect hire as head coach for the needed culture change. I love the pairing with (GM Adam) Peters. They have so much work to do beyond football.”
Additionally, Adam Peters was tied with Brian Gutekunst (behind John Schneider and Brett Veach) as the third best talent evaluator in the league.
• “Peters might be a curious choice since he just got a GM job, but look at his time with the 49ers and the start with Washington. They’ve already done an excellent job flipping around the scouting department. Just having a scouting structure is something that Washington hasn’t had for about 20 years. … No GM is the sole evaluator of a team.”
Similarly, Peters was tied for third with Nick Caserio and Omar Khan as one of the “most trusted” GMs in the league (behind Eliot Wolf and Veach).
As it pertains to encouraging news about the future, Washington’s Senior VP of football operations, Brandon Sosna, was named the second most likely “future GM” (behind the Bears Ian Cunningham).
• “I can give several reasons for choosing Brandon Sosna. He is transparent and beyond intelligent. At a very young age, he has been a crucial figure in two organizations at a high level. He’s only 31 now. It’s a coup for Washington.”
As always, I recommend a subscription to The Athletic, which is doing some of the best reporting on the NFL around, where the full article can be accessed.