Last week, Commanders general manager Adam Peters continued his overhaul of the front office. It was surprising to read Eugene Shen was leaving the Commanders.
If Dan Snyder still owned the franchise and had hired Eugene Shen only eight months ago, only to announce now that he is leaving, wouldn’t you say this was simply another example of the franchise’s dysfunction and brokenness?
Josh Harris surprisingly hired Shen in October during the then-current Ron Rivera administration. The graduate of Harvard, who also earned an MBA from MIT, was hired, and a few days later, Montez Sweat and Chase Young were traded.
Shen had been announced as the overseer of all analytics and software development for the football operations. Why, after only eight months, is Shen now gone?
Didn’t you raise your eyebrows a bit when Shen was hired in October, prior to Harris hiring his new general manager (Adam Peters)? Since Peters was hired he has brought on Lance Newmark from the Detroit Lions as his new assistant general manager. Brandon Sosna, also of Detroit, was recently hired by Peters as the new senior vice president of football operations, who will lead the analytics department.
Shen was brought on to help Harris make some important decisions for the future of the team, which frankly reveals that Harris needed leadership he would not receive from Rivera’s administration.
In April, Harris made a very significant hire, bringing in Dave Gardi as Washington’s new senior vice president of football initiatives. Gardi came from the NFL league office after 21 years of experience. This was seen universally in the NFL circles as a very keen, sharp move by Harris, as Gardi is highly respected.
Shen was probably feeling pushed out because his role was being reduced, and his ability to influence was greatly reduced, so the Commanders and Shen parted ways.
However, it does appear that Harris and Shen have remained on good terms, as he is said to be taking on another role for Harris Blitzer Sports Entertainment.
Thus, this is much more than a negative headline announcing a front office employee is out after only eight months. Might this be more about Harris being really impressed with Peters and providing Peters with increasing levels of power and influence over the football operations?
