Martin Mayhew joining Washington’s front office as executive

Washington is on the verge of hiring Marty Hurney as its next general manager, but the team might not be done shuffling the front office. 

According to the NFL Network, Washington is expected to add San Francisco vice president of player personnel Martin Mayhew as a “high-ranking executive with a title to be determined.” Mayhew, 55, will work alongside Hurney and coach Ron Rivera, the latter of whom led Washington’s general manager search. 

Mayhew was one of six candidates to have interviewed for Washington’s general manager vacancy. Though he works for San Francisco now, he is best known for being the Detroit Lions’ general manager from 2008 to 2015 — an eight-season stint that saw the Lions make the playoffs twice. 

Mayhew also holds ties to Washington as he was a former cornerback with the Washington Redskins. Mayhew spent four seasons under coach Joe Gibbs, winning the Super Bowl in 1991. He retired in 1996 and joined the Lions’ front office in 2001. Mayhew joined the 49ers in 2017 and was promoted to his current position in 2019. 

Mayhew’s likely addition creates further questions about Kyle Smith’s role next season. Smith, a 36-year-old who has been with the franchise since 2010 and is the son of former Chargers general manager A.J. Smith, was promoted to vice president of player personnel last year. He spent the season working closely with Rivera, drawing rave reviews for his work in the draft. 

Rivera was highly complimentary of Smith after the draft, but offered only lukewarm praise when asked about him later in the season.

“I think he’s done a nice job for us,” Rivera said of Smith in December. “Again, as we continue to go forward, I think the big thing more so than anything else is we’ve got to make sure we’re all on the same page.”

The team has yet to officially announce any changes to its front office. On Tuesday, multiple reports indicated that Washington was finalizing a deal with Hurney, the former Panthers general manager who worked with Rivera in Carolina.