After more than a decade, Bruce Allen’s days atop the Washington Redskins' football operation are coming to an end. Allen is expected to be reassigned by no later than Monday, multiple sources say.
NBC Sports Washington’s JP Finlay first reported that Allen will no longer be in charge of football operations by Monday, the day after the Redskins close their season in Dallas.
Snyder has consistently reviewed the football operation every offseason and has even had discussions with other personnel executives around the league in recent years, a league source told The Fan on Saturday. But after a 3-12 season (pending Sunday’s outcome), Snyder finally decided to make the change.
Sources tell The Fan that the reassignment of Allen and the firings of many (if not all) of the team's coaching staff will happen quickly, and the replacements will be named quickly as well.
Former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and former Panthers coach Ron Rivera have been tied to the Washington coaching vacancy. Previous reports also indicated former NFL head coach and current Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy as high on Snyder’s wishlist as well.
Three of those four candidates are available to be hired immediately with the exception of Bienemy, who would finish his season with the Chiefs. All four candidates are minorities and thus there would be no complications with the NFL’s Rooney Rule.
A source told The Fan Saturday that Lewis had not reached out to former Redskins coach Jay Gruden, despite their work together when Lewis was in Cincinnati.
The executive front is seen as more wide open. Potential candidates, such as ESPN analyst and former NFL executive Louis Riddick, have been mentioned as possibilities in the past, but as of now, there are no front runners for Allen's job. The Redskins do have possibilities in-house, which would potentially include VP of Player Personnel Doug Williams, Director of College Scouting Kyle Smith and Senior VP of Football Operations Eric Schaffer.
The Washington Post has reported, for the second time in just under a year, the Redskins and the city could not work with Congress to either purchase or agree on a long term lease of the 190 acres of federally owned land that would allow them to not only build a stadium, but develop the area around the stadium much like the Nationals did with the Navy Yard neighborhood.
Allen is seen by Snyder as an asset in the negotiations because of his political ties and political skills. Allen’s brother, George, served in both houses of Congress and was the governor of Virginia. Bruce has often been described as a politician for his demeanor and how he answers questions.
Front office sources tell The Fan that Allen has been business-as-usual the last couple of weeks as rumors about his pending departure swirled. He has asked the same questions of scouts and assumed the same roles in personnel meetings. Scouts have not been informed of a change, even if Allen has.
The team did not respond to a request for comment. A source did confirm Allen was on the plane as usual as the team traveled to Dallas Saturday afternoon.
