Well, folks, Martin Mayhew is our new GM. It’s full circle for Mayhew; He was part of Washington’s 1991 Super Bowl Championship team as a player and got his start as an executive working as an intern in Washington’s personnel department.
Mayhew’s previous General Manager job was with the Detroit Lions. His track record as the GM in Detroit was mixed with some hits and misses here and there. Drafting Matthew Stafford was the highlight of his time with the Lions, but he was also part of Detroit’s 0-16 disaster season.
Marty Hurney also returns home to the DC area as the executive vice president of football for player personnel.
Hurney was for many years a sportswriter for that rag of a newspaper called the Washington Times. Hurney’s first NFL job was with Washington; he was hired in 1989 during the Gibbs-Cooke era as director of public relations. Eventually, he followed Bobby Beathard to San Diego, where he learned the ins and outs of salary caps and player contracts. Hurney’s time in Carolina as GM has been well-documented, and his most notable move there was drafting Cam Newton.
I’m excited about these two additions; They both have a strong connection to this team and its glory days. I am looking forward to their first draft class.
I still think that getting Matthew Stafford or Deshaun Watson will be too expensive.
There is no official word on Kyle Smith and his current status or what his role will be under this new front-office structure. I hope they figure out a way to keep him here; I like what he has done rebuilding our roster without Bruce Allen around.
Washington’s historical promotion of Jennifer King as the first Black woman to be a full-time offensive assistant in the NFL is exceptional.
Our old buddy Dwayne Haskins joined the Steelers on a one-year deal — happy he landed somewhere pretty fast.
Washington has just become the first NFL team to land a sports betting license through a partnership with FanDuel. Now all the degenerate gamblers in DC and VA can officially bet games online.
And for the Conference Championship games…..
BUCCANEERS 31 — PACKERS 26:
Tom Brady is going to his 10th Super Bowl — a game that will be played in Tampa Bay’s home turf. The road to the Super Bowl wasn’t easy. Brady and the Bucs beat my Washington Football Team, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers, in their home Stadiums to get to the biggest game of the Football year… so, if Brady beats Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl, then the GOAT argument should be set in stone.
However, this next generation of Quarterbacks like Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson, Justin Herbert, and newcomers like Trevor Lawrence and Justin Fields might be in a good position to reach similar heights when it is all set and done for them.
I think there is a good chance Aaron Rodgers could leave Green Bay next season. San Francisco would be an ideal spot. I think the 49ers are one Quarterback away from getting back to the big game, and Jimmy G seems to be on his way out. Don’t rule out Denver also…. They have been looking for a Franchise Quarterback since Peyton Manning retired in 2015.
CHIEFS 38 — BILLS 24:
Buffalo got an early lead at 9-0, but it didn’t take long for Kansas City to start putting up points. The Bills did not establish any type of running game to slow down Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes looks like a sorcerer, sometimes making extraordinary things happen and putting his offense in scoring positions.
The Chiefs are the reigning defending Super Bowl Champions and have an excellent chance to repeat as Champions again. This will be a blockbuster, cannot miss Super Bowl game between Tom Brady, who represents the recent past, and Patrick Mahomes, who is the present of the NFL and also represents the future.
I’ll make my Super Bowl picks next week….
Rod Rioja 