Montez Sweat recently called his former team, the Washington Commanders, “toxic” in an interview with Chicago Sun-Times reporter Jason Lieser.
You can’t really blame him. After all, he was not talking about the current Commanders environment. Sweat was not able to experience the Commanders new administration led by general manager Adam Peters and head coach Dan Quinn. Remember, last October, Sweat was traded to the Bears for the Bears’ second-round choice in the 2024 NFL draft.
“It was a toxic, heavy toll, just losing and people around you being kinda OK with losing,” said Sweat. “It could sometimes rub off on you. You’ve gotta stay hungry and know that you want to win.”
Indeed in his five seasons with Washington (2019-2023), the team had three names, the Redskins, the Football Team and the Commanders. Their owner, Daniel Snyder, was repeatedly in the headlines, bringing negative headlines and stories to the team’s environment.
His teams during those seasons were 3-13 (2019), 7-9 (2020), 7-10 (2021), 8-8-1 (2022), and 4-13 (2023). Even the manner in which Sweat came to Washington displayed the clown show Snyder brought to the draft.
In the 2019 NFL draft, Snyder told the football staff that despite all their preparation for the draft, they were drafting Dwayne Haskins 15th overall. Haskins was not expected to be drafted in the first round, but Snyder wanted him and insisted he get what he wanted. Head of college scouting Kyle Smith was reported to have spoken up energetically and loudly.
This resulted in the Commanders then attempting to please their football staff, trading back up into the first round and selecting Sweat 26th overall. However, this maneuver to be accomplished cost them dearly, as they had to send two second-round choices to the Colts to complete the deal. Therefore, Washington gave up the 46th pick in 2019 and the 34th pick in 2020. Just think they could have chosen someone other than Haskins at 15, and then they would have possessed those two additional second-round choices.
Sweat, a lean and mean 6-6, 262 pounds, was in the final year of his contract in 2023 and signed a four-year extension after his trade to Chicago. In his eight games with Washington, Sweat totaled 6.5 sacks, 10 tackles for a loss and 11 QB hits. Then, in his nine games with the Bears, Sweat accumulated 6.0 sacks, 4 tackles for a loss, and 14 QB hits.