The Washington Redskins are restructuring the organization. After a decade filled with disappointments, team president Bruce Allen was fired Monday morning. Then in the afternoon, word broke that head trainer Larry Hess had been fired after 17 years.
The moves may lead to Trent Williams returning to the Redskins. Well, “It’s a possibility.”
Redskins running back and close friend Adrian Peterson stated the same message while elaborating a bit more, per Sam Fortier and Roman Stubbs of the Washington Post.
“It’s a possibility,” Peterson said Monday morning during the team’s year-end locker room clean-out. “Before the firing …” his voice trailed off. “Obviously, we all knew how [Williams] felt and what he had to say, so I do feel like there’s an opportunity to come back.”
Williams has been away from the team for much of the season, starting during the offseason when he held out of training camp. Williams was upset about the misdiagnosis of a growth on his head by the Redskins training staff.
He ultimately sought an outside doctor and the growth was diagnosed as cancer, resulting in the tumor being removed surgically.
Williams requested a trade or more guarantee money with two years remaining on his current five-year deal. Both request were denied by Allen, even after the team struggled to a 3-13 season and teams reportedly sought Williams via a trade.
Williams reported to the team on Oct. 31 in hopes of accruing the season and gathering some of money for the season. However, he failed his physical after experiencing discomfort on his head after trying on his helmet.
The team placed Williams on the NFL’s non-football injury list a week later. The team then opted not to pay the cornerstone left tackle, a decision Williams believed Allen did as punishment for his holdout and speaking with the media about his holdout, and relationship with Allen and the team’s training staff.
“I feel like everything has run its course,” Williams told Mike Jones of USA TODAY Sports in November. “I mean, I do want to play football still and I’m not a free agent until after the 2020 season, so who knows. But the bridge has definitely been burned, and any efforts now, basically are, in my opinion, pretty much just CYA (cover your ass).”
Allen is now gone and so is Hess, the head trainer. Redskins fans can hope that Snyder and new front office can smooth over Williams and get him to return. Interesting enough, Williams seemingly did not blame Snyder for the situation. That could be an opening for a conversation about the “possibility” of a return for Williams.
