Josh Harris has owned the Washington Commanders for a little more than three months.
On Tuesday, he took charge.
Trade deadline day became a transformational day for the franchise, which shipped out star defensive ends Montez Sweat and Chase Young.
The haul met or exceeded expectations — an early second-round pick for Sweat, a late-third-round pick for Young — but closed the door on another disappointing chapter in franchise history.
Both players were in the final year of their contracts, and the trades are an acknowledgment that the Commanders’ plan of building a fearsome defensive line around four first-round selections did not lead to the on-field success anticipated when the picks were made.
Washington is 31st in the league in points allowed, and Harris doesn’t need to hire a team of analysts to know that he can accomplish that with or without Sweat and Young.
Officially, coach Ron Rivera has final say over personnel decisions, but Harris undoubtedly had his say on this one. In the process, he added more writing to an already-graffitied wall — there will be a new sheriff in town in 2024.
As Harris looks for a new general manager or head of player personnel, something virtually all successful teams have, he will now have five draft picks in the first three rounds next spring. Along with his reputation as a forward-thinking owner, that should be enough to lure the best candidates to Washington this January.
In reversing direction, he’ll aim to leave behind the star-centric moves that defined previous owner Dan Snyder’s tenure. Young was a local celebrity when he played high school ball, and knew Snyder’s son from their time together at a local prep school.
His final headline had nothing to do with what happened on the field. Instead, it was a Monday afternoon appearance by his dad, Greg, on sports-talk radio. Appearing with Grant Paulsen on 106.7 The Fan, Greg Young compared his son to Michael Jordan and Deion Sanders in terms of the impact he had on games, and offered critical comments to those who critiqued his son without knowing the game.
The appearance called to mind one of the final episodes of the Robert Griffin III saga, when his father appeared in the team’s locker room to support his son after a loss (family members are generally prohibited from being in the locker room).
Young’s haul is a letdown given his draft position — he was taken No. 2 overall with Rivera’s very first draft pick in 2020.
Young won defensive rookie of the year honors that season, but an ACL injury and speculation that he “freelanced” too much instead of playing within coordinator Jack Del Rio’s system dogged him during his time in Washington.
Just 24 years old, Young still has time to develop into an NFL star, and will be paired in San Francisco with former college teammate Nick Bosa, who he was often compared to in the draft process, a pairing that could be beneficial to his growth.
The 49ers have made good business out of fleecing the Washington franchise on trades.
In addition to getting Young for a third-rounder (which they can recoup if he leaves this offseason), they also were able to trade third- and fifth-round selections for offensive lineman Trent Williams three years ago, netting a pair of players who were taken in the top-4 of the draft for minimal compensation.
The trade of Sweat to the Bears validates his perceived value, as he was one of the top players available at Tuesday’s trade deadline. On Monday, the New York Giants traded their star pass rusher, Leonard Williams, to the Seattle Seahawks for second- and fifth-round selections, but the value of those selections is less than the pick Washington acquired.
The day’s other major trades included the Minnesota Vikings landing quarterback Josh Dobbs, in light of an injury to starter Kirk Cousins, and the Buffalo Bills acquiring cornerback Rasul Douglas from the Green Bay Packers in a third-for-fifth round pick swap.
While the trade deadline often divides teams into “buyers” and “sellers” based on their perceived chances of making the playoffs, Rivera is unlikely to publicly throw in the towel on the 2023 season, and will undoubtedly note that some of Washington’s best games defensively didn’t involve monster days from Sweat or Young.
Still, it is a pivotal moment in the course of the franchise under Harris, and the first public acknowledgment that the path of the last four years wasn’t leading the Commanders where they want to go.
Harris became known with the Philadelphia 76ers for instituting “The Process,” a cycle of tanking then rebuilding that turned the team into contenders.
There’s not a direct NFL equivalent, since the salary cap ensures general parity, but Tuesday may have been the first hint at what is in store for the franchise under Harris’ stewardship. The next major decision will come when he appoints his new general manager, and begins to remake the team in his vision.
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