Washington Redskins starting long climb to respect with Ron Rivera

The road to respectability won’t be without its potholes for the Washington Redskins.

The organization made huge strides this offseason when it mercifully moved on from team president Bruce Allen. As well as that, it replaced interim head coach Bill Callahan with the widely-respected Ron Rivera.

Rivera, 58, led the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl in 2015. Over his nine years with the club, the former Chicago Bears linebacker posted a 76-63-1 mark, winning three NFC South titles and reaching the postseason on four occasions.

Now with the Redskins, Rivera is looking to rebuild a culture which has been awful since the halcyon days of Joe Gibbs and Co.

One of Rivera’s first moves was to jettison former All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams, who sat out all of the 2019 season after voicing his displeasure with the team’s medical staff. Williams couldn’t be brought back into the fold even after Rivera’s hiring was announced, and so the team moved him to the San Francisco 49ers for a pair of draft picks during then 2020 draft.

While moving on from Williams certainly doesn’t make Washington better on the field immediately, it removes a long-standing headache. Rivera’s next chore will be making the players accept the reality. Future Hall of Fame running back Adrian Peterson spoke about the trade on Monday, and voiced his issues, per NFL.com:

“I didn’t really like the trade, obviously,” Peterson said, per an official team transcript. “I feel like Trent is the best offensive lineman in the game. I’m able to see him firsthand and what he’s able to do. I was hoping there would be some good ending to him and what the Redskins were dealing with but, I’m happy for him. I’ve been on Trent since he was in high school and as long as he’s happy, that’s all that matters.”