New Commanders general manager Adam Peters has just one regret about accepting the job in Washington.
“Right away, I was all in,” Peters said. “I probably wasn’t a very good negotiator, but I told them I was all in.”
Sitting next to him, owner Josh Harris laughed.
“Unfortunately, he was a good negotiator,” Harris said.
Harris can rest assured that he still got a better price than the previous owner would have. As his reputation diminished around the league, Dan Snyder had to pay twice as much for half the talent.
Harris, on the other hand, landed the top pick leaguewide as his talent evaluator. Peters was a key cog in constructing the San Francisco 49ers roster that has become a perennial contender.
Peters’ snowy arrival in Washington was a contrast with the California life he’s enjoyed for years, though having spent time in New England and Denver, he’s ready for whatever gets thrown at him — including some big decisions right off the bat.
Peters will be charged with making the No. 2 overall pick in the upcoming NFL draft, as well as overseeing about $90 million in available salary cap space.
He’ll do that in the first year of a relationship between him and whoever the team’s next coach is, as he also oversees rebuilding the scouting department. That’s a lot of big decisions in a short amount of time.
On Tuesday, Peters promised to build through the draft, not free agency, and was noncommittal on anything involving players or picks, as he said he would have to make any such decision in collaboration with the team’s coach.
That olive branch is likely to go far, as Peters will enjoy broad authority in Ashburn, but repeatedly emphasized that he wants it to be a collaborative environment where he and the coach arrive at decisions together.
Peters wouldn’t put a timetable on the rebuild, other than to promise fans maximum effort from Day 1.
“With the 49ers, maybe the results didn’t show (right away), but you could see it on the field,” he said. “You could see what we were doing on the field, and the fans could feel it. And they knew it was turning, and we were close.
“You can’t put timetables on it, but what I can tell you is you’re going to see great competitors, you’re going to see a physical team, you’re going to be really impressed with what you see on the field, and it’s going to happen right away. Whether the results come right away - that’s a number of different factors — but you’re going to be very proud of the team that we’re going to put on the field.”
Tuesday’s press conference had a distinctly more upbeat vibe than last week’s, where Harris announced the firing of Ron Rivera.
Harris alluded to the fact that there will be one more in the near future, declaring that it’s “on to the next one” as the franchise begins to look for a coach.
The owner cited Peters’ ability to build a winning culture in San Francisco, as well as picking players who go on to be stars.
“He’s learned from a lot of great leaders,” Harris said. “He’s about excellence. He’s about attracting the best people and then holding them accountable. He’s about building edges.
“Both of us work super hard. Both of us want to do things from the ground up, one person at a time. Both of us want to take more of a long-term perspective to build sustainable and elite winning. So, I think he was an ideal candidate from my point of view.”
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