Remember when Washington head coach Ron Rivera was supposed to have the final say on all personnel matters?
Well, according to Thursday’s ESPN report on Commanders owner Daniel Snyder suggesting he had ‘dirt’ on other NFL owners, it was the owner who pushed for Washington to trade for quarterback Carson Wentz.
All along, it was believed to be Rivera who made the call to trade for Wentz after exploring other veteran options.
This past March, Washington traded second-, third-, and conditional third-round picks to the Colts for Carson Wentz, a quarterback who in 2017 appeared to be on the verge of being a superstar but whose fortunes have since sunk. It was a stiff price for a soft-market quarterback — all familiar marks of Snyder’s penchant for overpaying and negotiating against only himself. Sources familiar with the deal say that it was Snyder who pushed for Wentz — and Commanders football staffers have told people around the league as much. “It was 100% a Dan move,” says a source with knowledge of the inner workings of the deal.
Rivera strongly denied that notion, insisting the trade for Wentz was his idea, and he brought the idea to Dan and Tanya Snyder, who supported the move.
It’s been a difficult week for Rivera and Wentz, who’ve had to prepare to play and coach in two games in four days, all the while dealing with non-football matters.
Regardless, the rumors of Snyder’s meddling never seem to go away, even when he was allegedly not involved in day-to-day activities with the team.
