If you are Josh Harris calling Adam Peters.

[Solitary Man]

Your ideas aren’t interesting enough to piss anyone off, people are just pointing out that they’re bad ideas, which is a normal part of partaking in message board discourse. No biggie imo.

Most of what you’re saying has no relation whatsoever to ownership. Plenty of talk around the board on all those issues and topics, plenty of people angry about the same things. Just has nothing to do with your proposed hypothetical about ownership intervention. That’s the pushback you’re getting.

And yeah the Whitt stuff is dumb and the flagrant Rooney Rule avoidance you posit is unsavory. So yeah. Just bad posts getting reactions that bad posts get. You’re not the bad guy here you’re just having bad ideas. Been there plenty of times.

You don’t offer anything here. Just trying to have a conversation. Trying to pull anything of worth out of you. It’s an exercise in futility. Kliff sucks. Dan has no balls. I’m sorry I have to talk ape with you.

 

[Conn]

You don’t offer anything here. Just trying to have a conversation. Trying to pull anything of worth out of you. It’s an exercise in futility. Kliff sucks. Dan has no balls. I’m sorry I have to talk ape with you.

Plenty of conversation on those topics in relevant threads, including from me. You chose to start a thread about what the owner should do about any of those issues, so that’s what I’m addressing to you, and the answer is nothing. Pretty simple.

 

[SkinsLife]

We know that Ben Johnson immediately had a rough zoom interview with Harris & Co. (for whatever reason) so I really don’t think the narrative that he was the obvious #1 candidate ended up being true, even though we all entered the process assuming that (as did the entire world). There was friction before he ever got physically in a room with AP. He wasn’t ready to let go of his Dan Campbell binky yet, either, clearly.

See .. i dont believe that the initial interview was "that" rough.. all that stuff about BJ came out after as a way for this FO to save face. You have to read between the lines as the reporting here isnt all that accurate as its often manipulated by the team.
If that interview was that rough... why would this FO still wait to do a f2f interview with BJ while all other candidates were being signed by other teams. They lost 2-3 weeks while Det was in the playoffs.
So this FO still screwed up... one of two ways
1. They misread the situation with BJ and continued to wait for him even though he had a rough interview.. which is borderline incompetence
2. Not having appropriate backup plan in place, in case their #1 choice fell though (or thinking Quinn was that choice, even though he was not in significant discussions with any other team)

 

[Solitary Man]

Plenty of conversation on those topics in relevant threads, including from me. You chose to start a thread about what the owner should do about any of those issues, so that’s what I’m addressing to you, and the answer is nothing. Pretty simple.

Yes I did and with all the threads and posts you said mine was the worst you’d seen in years. Without offering anything. Just rumors about other threads. If you are going to offer nothing, stay in those threads.

I want to know my GM is thinking about what’s best for our franchise.

 

[skinsinparadise]

Plenty of conversation on those topics in relevant threads, including from me. You chose to start a thread about what the owner should do about any of those issues, so that’s what I’m addressing to you, and the answer is nothing. Pretty simple.

I agree with the spirit of this point. I want a hands off owner.

If I would say something to Peters its:

A. Don't be afraid to make mistakes, I won't punish you for them. You can be more aggressive than you have been. (I am in the minority camp who doesn't think Peters was that aggressive last off season)

B. Don't double down on your mistakes (see Lattimore). Cut bait if you think you got something wrong as opposed to trying to justify the move.

 

[Conn]

See .. i dont believe that the initial interview was "that" rough.. all that stuff about BJ came out after as a way for this FO to save face. You have to read between the lines as the reporting here isnt all that accurate as its often manipulated by the team.
If that interview was that rough... why would this FO still wait to do a f2f interview with BJ while all other candidates were being signed by other teams. They lost 2-3 weeks while Det was in the playoffs.
So this FO still screwed up... one of two ways
1. They misread the situation with BJ and continued to wait for him even though he had a rough interview.. which is borderline incompetence
2. Not having appropriate backup plan in place, in case their #1 choice fell though (or thinking Quinn was that choice, even though he was not in significant discussions with any other team)

I mean, Ben Johnson’s last minute cancellation of the in-person interview doesn’t really make sense unless he came out of the zoom call feeling like he wasn’t the top candidate he thought he was, and not getting hired when he’d been so selective about which jobs to interview for would make him look terrible. He was insulted that they were making him go through the full process like anyone else, it seemed. Idk, you could be right but that rubbed me the wrong way given we were in the middle of an entire organizational and cultural reset. How do you start from that foundation of fragility (and care for outside opinion) and feel good about it?

Whereas the Bears probably treated him exactly like they treated Caleb Williams, goo goo gah gah eyes and total deference from the jump, never a question the job was his. Not looking terrible for them right now, I’m simply saying I understand if that’s not the precedent AP wanted to start our reset with.

 

[Conn]

Yes I did and with all the threads and posts you said mine was the worst you’d seen in years. Without offering anything. Just rumors about other threads. If you are going to offer nothing, stay in those threads.

I want to know my GM is thinking about what’s best for our franchise.

Sounds like a great point to bring up in the AP thread, where I’d agree with you. Again, you’re just getting pushback on the owner stuff because nobody wants a meddling owner ever again, and that’s how you framed your concerns.

 

[Solitary Man]

Sounds like a great point to bring up in the AP thread, where I’d agree with you. Again, you’re just getting pushback on the owner stuff because nobody wants a meddling owner ever again, and that’s how you framed your concerns.

Nobody wants a meddling owner. At what point does the owner call the GM? When his star qb suffers his 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th injury? Combined with the mortgaging of our 2026 draft class. I waited until after the 4th injury to make my imaginary call. Which was coaching malpractice.

Not saying Peters is a bust yet, but I am letting him know I am not happy. We can be friends and eat together but I am not happy with the direction of the team.

 

[SkinsLife]

I mean, Ben Johnson’s last minute cancellation of the in-person interview doesn’t really make sense unless he came out of the zoom call feeling like he wasn’t the top candidate he thought he was, and not getting hired when he’d been so selective about which jobs to interview for would make him look terrible. He was insulted that they were making him go through the full process like anyone else, it seemed. Idk, you could be right but that rubbed me the wrong way given we were in the middle of an entire organizational and cultural reset. How do you start from that foundation of fragility (and care for outside opinion) and feel good about it?

Whereas the Bears probably treated him exactly like they treated Caleb Williams, goo goo gah gah eyes and total deference from the jump, never a question the job was his. Not looking terrible for them right now, I’m simply saying I understand if that’s not the precedent AP wanted to start our reset with.

If that was the case then why wait for 3 weeks after the initial call, just to tell them he was no longer interested as they are flying in. More likely scenario IMO is that he just decided that he wanted to stay in Det for one more year ... them going deep in to the playoffs probably helped him make that decision. You could be right that he felt that he wasnt getting enough respect based on his achievements with Det.. i guess we will never know for sure.. but a bit of truth in all of it.

 

[Conn]

Nobody wants a meddling owner. At what point does the owner call the GM? When his star qb suffers his 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th injury? Combined with the mortgaging of our 2026 draft class. I waited until after the 4th injury to make my imaginary call. Which was coaching malpractice.

Not saying Peters is a bust yet, but I am letting him know I am not happy. We can be friends and eat together but I am not happy with the direction of the team.

I think it’s totally appropriate for the owner to be in contact with the GM, keeping a finger on the pulse, having questions answered, keep abreast of strategy and plans (short, medium, + long term), gauging where AP is at with everything, where he thinks things are going right and wrong, what he’d change (what he will change) and what he plans to do differently, what lessons he’s learning and what notions he’s discarding as he learns. That’s all normal check-in stuff and I want my owner engaged and informed and aware so that he can judge the performance of his GM and hold them accountable on a macro scale.

That’s way more narrow than the sort of stuff you started this thread talking about though. You started as a hypothetical owner-tyrant running things like a madden franchise 🤣

 

[Boone]

Nobody wants a meddling owner. At what point does the owner call the GM? When his star qb suffers his 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th injury? Combined with the mortgaging of our 2026 draft class. I waited until after the 4th injury to make my imaginary call. Which was coaching malpractice.

Not saying Peters is a bust yet, but I am letting him know I am not happy. We can be friends and eat together but I am not happy with the direction of the team.

You really think Peters needs a call from the owner to alert him a 3-6 record is unsatisfying?

Come on man. I’m sure Harris and AP talk at least weekly if for nothing more than ‘is there anything you need?’

I feel pretty confident Peters knows exactly what the desired goals in DC are and what will eventually happen if they aren’t achieved to the ownership groups expectations.

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

See .. i dont believe that the initial interview was "that" rough.. all that stuff about BJ came out after as a way for this FO to save face. You have to read between the lines as the reporting here isnt all that accurate as its often manipulated by the team.
If that interview was that rough... why would this FO still wait to do a f2f interview with BJ while all other candidates were being signed by other teams. They lost 2-3 weeks while Det was in the playoffs.
So this FO still screwed up... one of two ways
1. They misread the situation with BJ and continued to wait for him even though he had a rough interview.. which is borderline incompetence
2. Not having appropriate backup plan in place, in case their #1 choice fell though (or thinking Quinn was that choice, even though he was not in significant discussions with any other team)

The fact is Ben Johnson canceled an in person interview with the group while they were on an airplane to go visit him.

Dan coached the team to the NFC Championship game LAST YEAR and there were talks of him being a coach of the year candidate. I mean, it's not like he got here and immediately started sucking.

He made a REALLY bad decision (in my opinion) to leave Daniels in the game.

When he had a mostly healthy team last year, even with virtually all of them new to the team in some way, he got them all pointing in the right direction. He knew what he was doing and was roundly applauded as the best of the coaching hires of 2024. Kliff was seen as a shoe-in for a HC job if he wanted it, was essentially offered the Saints job site unseen and turned it down (obviously a good choice for him there). Whitt, there were serious questions about because the defense last year was mediocre at best and not good at worst.

We have 1/3 of the team on IR, and now all of a sudden the coach's can't coach.

I mean, nobody's perfect, and yes, there are better coaches than Quinn and Kliff.

But my God, the recency bias and forgetting what happened last year is absolutely shocking.

And before I get the "last year was the anomaly" stuff, maybe, but they still pulled it off and won 2 road playoff games, including one against the #1 seed in the NFC. Was it an anomaly? Maybe. But they still managed to do it, and it wasn't all based on pure luck.

 

[Boone]

I think it’s just as easy to describe what’s happened this year as a possible anomaly as it is last year. The point is, giving up on the organization because of what’s happened this year is probably not any more wise than anointing them after last season might have been.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

The larger search committee working with Harris (the basketball guys, etc.) was to find Peters and set the foundation, right? I don’t think that entire committee was involved in the HC search as well. I got the impression at the time that Adam Peters, having been wooed by Harris and his advisors, was pretty empowered by that point to find his guy at HC, and Harris of course was involved as well.

But Ben Johnson’s “basketball guys” comment was about his initial zoom interview with the original search committee, because by necessity it happened early in the process when there was time, which was before Peters was officially hired I believe. Which happens often when an entire organizational reset is happening, sometimes the owner (and consultants) conducts initial meet & greet interviews with hot HC candidates before the GM hire is finalized, and then they do the real interviews with the football guy leading the way. Peters (and Harris) were the ones flying to interview Johnson (and Glenn) in DET at that point, but Ben Johnson had already stumbled in his zoom interview or at least chafed against whatever Harris & Co. were selling at that early point.

With Macdonald, the Seahawks indeed moved fast to lock down their guy. But if the alternative is that we did a less thorough GM search, is that really what we would have wanted at the time? Franchises who are keeping the existing GM/FO structure in place always have a head start on HC hiring, that’s just how it is. SEA kept theirs. Doesn’t mean you can rush the most important part of your own process (the GM search) to beat those franchises to the punch on coaching candidates. Right?

The HC search had multiple people. It was in most of the articles about the search.
Just a quick 2-second search shows this article:

'He's your guy': How Steve Kerr and others influenced the Commanders to hire Dan Quinn

Quinn was a top candidate, along with Ben Johnson, Mike Macdonald and others. Here's how -- and why -- Washington made him its guy.

www.espn.com

Quinn had sold the Commanders' hiring committee -- consisting of Peters, owner Josh Harris, longtime NFL general manager Rick Spielman, former Golden State Warriors GM Bob Myers and front office veteran Martin Mayhew -- on his leadership traits, willingness to learn from failure and desire to work hand-in-hand with the front office. Aiding Quinn's case were a flood of endorsements received on his behalf, including from Warriors coach Steve Kerr and Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who had fired Quinn in 2020.

For the record, there's no real issue with wanting to have more voices, but it can slow down consensus. Too many cooks is a real problem in making big decisions, and a lot hinges on different personalities in that process and how they mesh/discuss. However, I think it's pretty obvious - a more seasoned, proven GM may not have merited getting all that additional "help." Is it some kind of big deal? Not at all.

Does it potentially provide some context, and maybe a window on Harris' thinking about AP? Probably. It's not some big negative. It probably does indicate some modicum of, "hey let me just make sure we get this right."

I don't think it's some big deal, but it's a solid data point. Now, let's consider the present issues; is it *clear* to me that AP is in complete control and the chain of command is clearly set with AP above DQ? I guess it is. AP hired him, right? The only thing I would say then - if we establish that - is I hope AP makes the right calls on "when to listen" and "when to assert."

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

You really think Peters needs a call from the owner to alert him a 3-6 record is unsatisfying?

Come on man. I’m sure Harris and AP talk at least weekly if for nothing more than ‘is there anything you need?’

I feel pretty confident Peters knows exactly what the desired goals in DC are and what will eventually happen if they aren’t achieved to the ownership groups expectations.

I'm sure Peters and Harris talk regularly also. Quinn and Peters talk daily.

One other thing, I'm sure that in the off-season, Peters, Harris and Quinn had a meeting, and actually probably multiple meetings, where they determined strategy for the 2025 season. At those strategy sessions, I'm sure a whole lot of information was provided, who our FA's were, who was available on the market, what the draft looked like, etc. The strategy they came up with was essentially not to blow up the entirety of a team they just cobbled together who got to the NFC Championship Game, but to be tactical and add pieces to supplement the roster.

They re-signed: Deiter (eventually released), Noah Brown, Sheldon Day, Justin Skule (released), Noah Igbinoghene, Nick Bellore (released), Marcus Mariota, Zane Gonzalez (released), Tress Way, Bobby Wagner and Jeremy McNichols. Another options would have been to let all those guys walk and sign other guys. But they kept those FAs.

They had to upgrade at WR, and they did by trading a 5th for Deebo. The thought was McLaurin + Deebo + getting more contribution from McCaffery woudl be a good start, draft a guy, and see what happens.

They wanted to get better at OL, so they traded for Tunsil. Adding a top 5 LT to a team is generally a good idea.

They wanted to stop the run better, so they signed D. Wise, Kinlaw and Harris (the safety people forget we signed who is hurt.)

They made very tactical signings to improve areas of the team which were weaknesses last year.

Then everybody got hurt. And the plan fell apart.

I guarantee you there's no way Harris was not fully aware of and in support of the plan. Otherwise they would have done something different.

 

[Conn]

Good points SkinsNumberOne, I’ve expressed similar interest in the decision-making dynamics (AP collaborating to give his coaches what they think they want vs. AP trusting the eyes that got him hired). I suspect that if Quinn doesn’t work out, AP will have less ride-alongs on his next HC hiring process (and I do think he gets at least one more swing). Harris still had his whole consultant posse around him after leading his $6B acquisition into a new era and resetting the org chart entirely starting with the hire of AP, we won’t really be in that same spot in the future. And AP will be more seasoned in his position whenever that day comes, too, like you mentioned he was green coming in despite the hot reputation.

 

[SkinsLife]

The fact is Ben Johnson canceled an in person interview with the group while they were on an airplane to go visit him.

Dan coached the team to the NFC Championship game LAST YEAR and there were talks of him being a coach of the year candidate. I mean, it's not like he got here and immediately started sucking.

He made a REALLY bad decision (in my opinion) to leave Daniels in the game.

When he had a mostly healthy team last year, even with virtually all of them new to the team in some way, he got them all pointing in the right direction. He knew what he was doing and was roundly applauded as the best of the coaching hires of 2024. Kliff was seen as a shoe-in for a HC job if he wanted it, was essentially offered the Saints job site unseen and turned it down (obviously a good choice for him there). Whitt, there were serious questions about because the defense last year was mediocre at best and not good at worst.

We have 1/3 of the team on IR, and now all of a sudden the coach's can't coach.

I mean, nobody's perfect, and yes, there are better coaches than Quinn and Kliff.

But my God, the recency bias and forgetting what happened last year is absolutely shocking.

And before I get the "last year was the anomaly" stuff, maybe, but they still pulled it off and won 2 road playoff games, including one against the #1 seed in the NFC. Was it an anomaly? Maybe. But they still managed to do it, and it wasn't all based on pure luck.

He and FO made a lot of really bad decisions, which partially has us where we are at today. One cinderella story season with a new qb, weak schedule and few injuries (rare in todays NFL) doesnt make him a great coach. Half the team is on IR because half the team are old vets with lots of miles and injuries, decisions to bring them in insured these results.
You know who else had such cinderella stories go bad..
Mcadoo 2016
Naggy in 2018
Marrone 2017

look it up..

 

[Ghost of Sarge]

After 24 years of Lord Farquaad, I don't want the owner of the team talking to the GM about the team, other than to ask "What do you need?".

 

[Voice_of_Reason]

He and FO made a lot of really bad decisions, which partially has us where we are at today. One cinderella story season with a new qb, weak schedule and few injuries (rare in todays NFL) doesnt make him a great coach. Half the team is on IR because half the team are old vets with lots of miles and injuries, decisions to bring them in insured these results.
You know who else had such cinderella stories go bad..
Mcadoo 2016
Naggy in 2018
Marrone 2017

look it up..

I don't know exactly what bad decisions they made. Or what better decisions could have been made...

How about this: what would you have done differently after the NFC Championship Game?

 

[SkinsLife]

I don't know exactly what bad decisions they made. Or what better decisions could have been made...

How about this: what would you have done differently after the NFC Championship Game?

its an empty question since hindsight is 20/20 but.. starting in 24..
1. Draft differently Konerly in the 1st is a miss in 25. Most of the 24 draft is looking weak outside of JD. Focus on difference makers DEs, WRs
2. Instead of bringing in old veterans and then being surprised they get hurt... take more chances on younger guys, w potential.
3. dont resign Wagner - you could see that he lost a few steps last year, find a better MLB
4. instead of Ertz... find a younger better version of a pass catching TE... (there were several available)
5. Dont trade for Latimore.. there were indicators he was DONE before that trade
6. find a legit DC
7. Would not trade for Tunsil... He is not a fit for this Offense and hasnt played all that great this year. They will need to pay him next year. A solid run blocking LT would have been much more valuable.

NFL is designed for parity .. where the best team is not all that far away from the worst team and with the right leadership a team can be turned around quickly. What i am seeing from Commanders on the field is direct result of poor decision making by this FO. Missing of drafts, making poor fa decisions, and poor game planning.