It’s hard to believe it’s already been two years (July 21, 2023) since Josh Harris took control of the Washington Commanders.
Less than six months after buying the team, Harris did something Snyder couldn’t pull off during his entire 24 years as owner: hire a real general manager — and then get out of the way.
On January 16, 2024, Harris convinced 49ers assistant GM Adam Peters to take over Washington’s football operations. Peters moved quickly, bringing in Dan Quinn as head coach, drafting Jayden Daniels at No. 2 overall, and starting a roster overhaul that already feels like a franchise reset.
A Quarter Century in the NFL’s Wasteland
Under Snyder, the GM position was a graveyard of lost seasons. Vinny Cerrato, Bruce Allen (with the Mike Shanahan co-GM act), and Ron Rivera combined for a miserable .384 winning percentage over 22 seasons.
People ask, “Why couldn’t Dan Snyder just hire someone like Adam Peters?”
That’s the wrong question — because someone like Adam Peters would never take the job under Snyder. His reputation was too radioactive.
When you’re an owner that toxic, you’re constantly forced to overpay — not just in money, but in leverage — just to convince mediocre talent to join your franchise. That’s how you end up with a serviceable, but far-from-elite, head coach like Ron Rivera, and then hand him final say over all GM decisions just to get him to sign on. And we all saw where that led — like taking Emmanuel Forbes Jr. over Christian Gonzalez, a move that should be studied in draft rooms under ‘How to miss the layup.’
And when you give Rivera that kind of power, you also hand him the impossible task of finding a franchise quarterback. He swung for Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, and Russell Wilson — but none of them were ever going to consider Washington. Left picking through the bargain bin, Rivera landed on Carson Wentz. The Colts were about to cut him loose for nothing, but Dan Snyder couldn’t wait. In classic meddling fashion, he overruled patience and forced the front office to cough up a 2nd and 3rd-round pick to trade for someone who didn’t even last a full season.
Under Snyder, Washington wasn’t just a bad team — it was an NFL exile.
And his damage went beyond the standings. Snyder robbed an entire generation of fans. In sports terms, a generation is roughly between 25 and 30 years — long enough for a kid to grow up, start a family, and pass down their team’s traditions.
For Washington fans, that cycle was poisoned. The glory days of the ’80s and early ’90s feel even more distant because Snyder’s tenure erased any hope of new ones. An entire era of fans never experienced their team as a consistent winner.
Robbing Players of Their Primes
He also robbed countless players of a real shot at contending for a Lombardi Trophy: six-time Pro Bowl left tackle Chris Samuels, legendary safety Sean Taylor, three-time Pro Bowl linebacker (and Troy Aikman’s nightmare) LaVar Arrington, workhorse running back Clinton Portis, dynamic wideout Santana Moss, and all-time franchise sack leader Ryan Kerrigan are just a few of the many standouts whose prime years were squandered in Washington.
Even stalwarts who arrived from elsewhere — like ironman linebacker London Fletcher (a Hall of Fame–worthy talent in my book) — or stars who escaped to other teams, like Hall of Fame corner Champ Bailey, perennial All-Pro tackle Trent Williams, and franchise quarterback Kirk Cousins, saw years wasted in Washington.
Under Snyder, talent was either squandered or driven away. That’s the true legacy of the worst owner in sports history: a near quarter-century that buried a proud franchise and wasted the careers of players who deserved better.
Harris Flips the Script
Harris is the anti-Snyder. He lets football people run football — and doesn’t crash draft night fresh off a yacht to overrule his entire scouting department because “hey, my kid went to high school with that guy!” Yes, that’s how Snyder unilaterally spent Washington’s 2019 first-round draft pick on Dwayne Haskins — brought to you by nepotism and impulse.
Case in point: Harris hired Adam Peters to run the draft, and Peters wasted no time delivering Washington a franchise quarterback in Jayden Daniels — a pick made in the war room, not from the deck of a yacht. With each move, Harris is restoring the franchise’s credibility.”
He’s already done something Snyder never came close to — guiding Washington back to the NFC Championship Game. In just his first full season of ownership, the Commanders were one win away from the Super Bowl, a stage the franchise hadn’t reached in over three decades.
And the momentum isn’t just on the field. On August 1, 2025, the D.C. Council approved a stadium deal that will bring the Commanders back to RFK Stadium. For the first time since 1996, the team will once again play in the city it represents, reconnecting the franchise to its roots and its fanbase in a way Snyder never could.
A Humble Steward
Maybe the biggest difference? His humility.
When asked how it felt to own the team he grew up rooting for, Harris didn’t make it about himself. He simply said: “This city and these fans own the team. I’m just a steward.”
After 24 years of Dan Snyder acting like he owned the fans, it’s a relief to finally have an owner who knows the fans own the team.
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