JANUARY 15: The Commanders are giving Peters a five-year contract, according to ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler. The seven-year 49ers exec will now play a lead role in the team finding a head coach to succeed Ron Rivera.
JANUARY 12: Not long after narrowing their search for a new general manager to two finalists, the Commanders have found the new leader of their front office. Washington is hiring Adam Peters as general manager, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network notes Peters will likely take on the title of president of football operations. Further reports from Dianna Russini of The Athletic and the Washington Post’s Nicki Jhabvala name Peters the GM as well. 
Regardless of the title he assumes, Peters will be a major member of the Commanders’ new organizational structure. After a strong tenure with the 49ers, he will take on an increased workload in the nation’s capital. Commanders owner Josh Harris assembled a search committee to find the team’s front office hires (both in terms of a head of football ops and, in all likelihood, a replacement for GM Martin Mayhew). The first step in that process has now taken place.
Peters was quickly named the favorite for a high-ranking Commanders position. He was among the first batch of candidates to receive an interview, and Washington moved quickly in narrowing down a list of finalists. Peters was joined by Bears AGM Ian Cunningham in receiving a second interview earlier this week, and the decision between the two has now been made rather rapidly. As Rapoport notes, one of Peters’ first tasks will be determining the future of Mayhew, who has been named as a hot seat occupant.
Head coach Ron Rivera was, as expected, dismissed on Black Monday. Mayhew likewise faces an uncertain future after three years serving as Washington’s GM. Harris made it clear the head of football operations posting would be filled before a new head coach would be brought in, and Peters will now be in place to assist in that effort.
The latter was a top GM candidate last year, but he rebuffed interest from the Cardinals and Titans. That allowed him to remain in San Francisco for one more year after joining the franchise in 2017. Peters was promoted to assistant general manager in 2021 as a confirmation of his status as a critical John Lynch lieutenant. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio confirms the 49ers attempted to retain Peters. Instead, he will move on.
Rapoport’s colleague Mike Garafolo notes Lions OC Ben Johnson is now a key name to watch with respect to the Commanders’ upcoming coaching hire. Further reports have also tabbed Johnson as a top candidate for Washington to join with Peters in a new power structure. The 37-year-old is on the radar of numerous teams in need of a head coach, though, so the Commanders will have competition if they make an aggressive pursuit of him.
Peters – who also received GM interview requests from the Chargers and Raiders – will have a number of key decisions to make in the near future, but the Commanders are positioned with plenty of flexibility from a roster-building perspective. Washington is currently slated to lead the league in cap space, and the team owns the second overall pick in April’s draft. Peters will be a key voice in the Commanders’ re-worked front office when the new league year kicks off.
Good for Peter! Very talented GM…
Offseason Agenda
Fix oline
Draft Maye at 2
Surround Maye with a good offensive game plan much like Texans did with Stroud.
Possibly trade for either Mark Andrews or Dawson Knox to give Maye a security blanket at TE. Ravens and Bills have a surplus at TE.
No way Ravens are trading Andrews. He is a top 5 TEs, sure they continued to win without him but he is a difference maker. Likely is good but not Andrews.
Knoxs I could see though, Kincade drafted highly.
With Queen, Madubuike, Zeitler, Pierce free agents Ravens probably shop Andrews to free up money to resign certain guys (Madibuike and Pierce most likely, we will see if they resign Queen). They have the depth and as a former 3rd round pick Ravens have proven they can find talent at the position in mid rounds. So they probably use a day 2 or 3 pick on an athletic TE to replace Andrews who’s on a rookie contract.
They extended Pierce a few weeks ago.
Queen will get extension
Madu has played so well, but also only plays 70% of the snaps. Will they commit huge money?
Zeitler is 33 so who knows if they win it all he maybe a guy that just retires. I don’t know much about his personality.
I think they are more inclined to get rid of Stanley over Andrews. Stanley has to injuries.
Tight end is not such a weak spot for the Commies/Redskins. Probably better to draft in a future talent (tight ends need a couple of years seasoning) and go with the inhouse folks. Offensive line, LB, DE, CB – the urgent needs list is long.
Peters is coming from San Fran where they just built a great team and and are Super Bowl contenders with a (very good) 7th round qb. I think its more likely he wants to go that route again and maybe trade back a few spots to get more assets/players. If they hire an offensive minded head coach he might want that qb though.
Jimmyz, I could definitely see them going that route, or maybe even giving Howell another shot. The only exception might be if they find themselves in a position to draft Williams, since there have been some reports that Harris is fond of him. It’s a team with a lot of needs though, and more selections could only help to fill those.
yo go that route u actually have to have a good staff in place they don’t and won’t for at least and few years as it takes a few years to iron things out . it’s not gonna be a 3 yr plan it’s more like 5 or 6 yr plan to turn this team around
Peters was also with the Pats, and the SB-winning Broncos — but let’s not give him (or the former Mr. Irrelevant) too much credit.
**Kyle Shanahan and his system make EVERYONE look better.**
This year’s game of musical coaching/GM chairs has a lot more teams participating than usual – thus it makes sense to hire your first choice quickly albeit at the risk of violating the Rooney rule.
Washington Commanders
Mike Borgonzi, assistant general manager (Chiefs): Interviewed 1/9
Glenn Cook, assistant general manager (Browns): Interviewed 1/9
Ian Cunningham, assistant general manager (Bears): Interviewed 1/10; finalist
Alec Halaby, assistant general manager (Eagles): Interviewed 1/10
Will McClay, vice president of player personnel (Cowboys): Interview requested
Adam Peters, assistant general manager (49ers): Interviewed 1/9; finalist
Glenn Cook and Ian Cunningham makes them compliant.
I think it’s interesting he turned down an interview with the Titans last year. I wonder if Amy Adams Strunk’s drama queen reputation was the reason.
As Mr Peters goes about making his mark on the Commanders,
Will his staff and players moves create…………………………………..
ADAMS FAMILY???
Early days but the new ownership group in Washington already is making it clear they will act much more quickly and decisively that the old regime…and that is probably a good thing. No more taking forever to decide if they want to keep guys like Cousins or Williams.
The Josh Harris Group have had 6 months to get things in order, they should be moving fast.
Seems like a rare, good move for a franchise that hasn’t made many in the last 30 years.
Not only that, the club formerly known as the Washington Redskins publicly announced it wants no part of Bill Belichick. Such would be pistol-whipping Vince Lombardi in his grave.
(Fun fact: Lombardi never had a losing season as a head coach, not even with the Redskins.)
DC needs to trade back and do an actual rebuild. They aren’t a QB away from winning.
The Commanders currently have six picks in the first 102 picks of the draft with $75.5 million in cap space. It will be extremely hard for the Commanders to find a dance partner for the #2 over all pick unless Chicago falls in love with a WR.
If the Commanders did find a partner and traded out of the #2 pick, it would be an embarrassment of riches. Like the 1999 draft with the Ricky Williams trade.
Maybe they take a page out of Houston’s book and try to trade up and make a couple top 5 picks and have one of them be a QB. That was an aggressive strategy that has them with a playoff win already! Copycat league! If you believe in a QB, then you have to take them, and maybe address the being more than a QB away issue by being aggressive instead of passive.
He’s giving up his job at the Hedge Fund??