Tuesday’s NFL trade deadline taught Commanders fans a lot about Josh Harris’ new ownership group.
Harris didn’t pay $6.05 billion for the franchise to clinch wild-card playoff spots. Harris wants to compete for championships, although the title hunt will take some time.
Trading Montez Sweat to Chicago in exchange for a second-round pick in 2024 doesn’t make Washington any better for a Week 9 game at New England. It certainly doesn’t make Washington any better for a Week 13 game against Miami.
Sweat is a good player and he is now helping the commanders. Trading it away is about building for the future.
This was the Harris plan in previous stints in other sports, most famously in Philadelphia, where his 76ers went through the “process,” a series of moves to dismantle the basketball roster and then acquire high draft picks to return to build a real title contender.
The Sixers may not be title contenders yet, but they are a consistent playoff team with a league MVP and it looks like they could be on the brink. Washington hasn’t been a consistent playoff team since the 1980s. Whether coincidentally or not, Washington has not acted with a long-term vision since then.
Under previous owner Dan Snyder, the organization pursued a reactionary vision focused on clinching playoff spots no matter what. It wasn’t about titles. Remember the Kirk “Kurt” Cousins fiasco? It was arbitrary and short-sighted.
Time will tell that Harris may not become an NFL champion, but he is already showing long-term vision.
The current version of the Commander built by Ron Rivera is not a title contender. At 3-5, it’s unlikely they’ll even be a playoff team. There are some good plays, but the group hasn’t shown consistency. Given that Rivera hasn’t won a playoff game in his three-plus seasons in Washington, some fans want him ousted now. Or at least defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio.
That’s fine, there is some logic to these considerations, but at some point there will probably be personnel changes. And they are less important than exchanging sweat.
It’s very likely that Harris will make significant changes to the front office and coaching staff at some point. However, the trade deadline only offered a limited amount of time to make a move. And Harris moved.
Washington currently holds three picks in the top 45 of the 2024 NFL Draft: its own first and second round picks and the Bears’ newly acquired selection. Maybe they’ll add more or package the picks to go up or down. There are a lot of options.
It seems clear that Harris is now following his instincts and building a championship team, as he promised at his introductory press conference when he bought the team.
Away swap The sweat can hurt a little, he was a good player and mostly durable, but he also only had nine games left on his contract. Even with Sweat, the Commanders have the 31st ranked defense in points allowed through eight games. There are only 32 teams, so his departure cannot make much of a difference in the remaining nine competitions.
But that’s the point – this isn’t about the remaining nine games. This is about the future: a future with Harris at the helm, not Snyder, and a future that may finally look bright.