Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris knocked it out of the park last January when he convinced San Francisco 49ers assistant general manager Adam Peters to become his new general manager.
For years, Peters’ name was at the top of all future GM lists, but he remained loyal to the 49ers. Once hired, Peters went to work, hiring Dan Quinn and an impressive coaching staff. Harris spared no expense on Peters’ front office, allowing him to build a large, talented group of front-office executives.
One of those hires was Lance Newmark. Newmark had spent the previous 26 years with the Detroit Lions, most recently as their senior director of player personnel. Newmark played a key role in Detroit’s resurgence in recent years.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated recently revealed his list of potential future NFL general managers and included Newmark on his list.
Newmark is another guy who’s very highly thought of in the scouting community, and is drawing notice now with more and more wins attached to his reputation. Newmark spent 26 seasons in Detroit—he even overlapped with Barry Sanders there for a year—and was most recently a part of the Dan Campbell/Brad Holmes renaissance. Last year, Adam Peters plucked him to make him his No. 2, and the turnaround in Washington speaks for itself. I could see Johnson taking Newmark with him if he landed in a place like Jacksonville.
Peters doesn’t want to lose Newmark, but when you have success, these things result from that success. Peters and Quinn are also the types of leaders who encourage those who work for them to always pursue better opportunities for themselves.