Led by Josh Harris and Jayden Daniels, the Washington Commanders have undergone a tremendous turnaround over the last 15 months.
When a group led by Josh Harris and Magic Johnson purchased the Washington Commanders from longtime owner Daniel Snyder for a record $6.05 billion in July 2023, they were inheriting an organization I’ll kindly call … a toxic laughingstock.
In the 24 years under Snyder, scandals included:
- Snyder suing fans for backing out of season ticket purchases.
- Snyder suing a local newspaper for defamation.
- Removing 10,000 seats from its home stadium, previously called FedEx Field, because it couldn’t sell tickets.
- Cheerleaders and female employees accusing front office execs of sexual harassment and verbal abuse.
- The team essentially being forced to change its controversial nickname, eventually settling on the Commanders after some time as the Washington Football Team.
- Snyder being accused of creating a toxic workplace and conducting his own shadow investigation.
- A federal probe into team finances.
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Right after the sale was completed, a 17-month investigation found that Snyder sexually harassed a former team employee and that the team intentionally withheld $11 million that was supposed to go to league revenue sharing, fining him a league record $60 million. On the field, the Commanders haven’t won a playoff game since 2005.
It takes a long time to erase that type of stench and to reverse ill will among the team’s loyal fan base, local media, and town, city, and state governments. Under new ownership, Washington immediately initiated a wholesale organizational overhaul both on and off the field.
Harris beefed up a lagging analytics department, hired Bob Myers as a consultant, added Adam Peters from San Francisco as General Manager, and poached Dan Quinn from rival Dallas to be the team’s first head coaching hire under new ownership. With $80 million of cap space in March, Peters and company had the resources to execute a necessary overhaul of a team that finished 4-13 last season with a league-worst minus 189 point differential.
Peters prioritized veteran leadership, adding center Tyler Biadisz from Dallas, tight end Zach Ertz, and running back Austin Ekeler from the Chargers. New experienced starters on defense include linebackers Bobby Wagner and Frankie Luvu, safety Jeremy Chinn, and defensive linemen Dorance Armstrong and Dante Fowler. Of course, that veteran leadership was built on the player the Commanders knew they’d get to draft second overall in April’s draft, LSU quarterback Jayden Daniels.
To date, the results of this 15-month organizational overhaul have been nothing short of breathtaking. At 4-1, the Commanders have the NFC’s second-best record with the league’s top-scoring offense.
Going into Week 6, Daniels is in the NFL’s top five in passer rating, yards per attempt, completion percentage, and QBR as a passer. As a runner, 22 of his attempts have resulted in first downs, the league’s fifth-highest total with a 38.6% first down rate that’s by far the league’s highest among rushers with at least 50 carries, per NFL.com. At +1100, Daniels has the sixth-best MVP betting odds at FanDuel SportsBook behind superstars Josh Allen, CJ Stroud, Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Brock Purdy.
While the Commanders have made tremendous strides, the road to the postseason won’t be easy.
Eight of the team’s final 12 games are against teams with records currently .500 or better. Even so, spirits are high in the DMV going into a marquee matchup Sunday as the Commanders visit Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in the battle of the Beltway. So far, the massive changes ownership’s implemented are working, slowly beginning the process of reversing a generation of some of the worst ownership we’ve seen in modern American professional sports.
While the team’s performance and subsequent success so far this season has commanded our attention on the national stage, and the internal changes are obvious, it’s fair to say the organization is on its way up in Washington.
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