The Washington Football Team has turned the corner toward reunion.
Washington is finalizing a deal with Marty Hurney to become the team's general manager, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per sources informed of the situation. The move reunites Hurney with head coach Ron Rivera, with whom Hurney worked in Carolina, where the two assembled key pieces of a Super Bowl-caliber roster in the early part of the last decade.
Hurney visited with Washington brass (including Rivera) Monday, clearly emerging as the top candidate for the position. It took the Football Team less than 24 hours to advance from "top candidate" to working out the fine print to bring Hurney to Washington.
The writing has been on the wall for this pairing since late December, when Hurney was fired as a result of a difference in approach. With Washington in need of a GM and Rivera having a history with Hurney that included selecting some of the players most important to Carolina's run to Super Bowl 50 (starting with Cam Newton), the two seemed like a natural fit in D.C. Hurney's beginning as an intern in Washington only further sweetened the full-circle narrative.
They'll join forces once again with the hopes of improving a Washington team that released its first-round quarterback (Dwayne Haskins) after less than two full seasons and faces plenty of uncertainty at the position in the short and long term. The bright side: Washington's defense is equipped to continue to be a force, as it was in the franchise's run to a 7-9 finish and a playoff berth in 2020.
The cupboard is far from bare in Washington, and with Hurney and Rivera sharing an understanding, they should be able to hit the ground running into 2021.
