Washington Football Team names Martin Mayhew as GM, will hire Marty Hurney as high-level executive

Mayhew, 55, previously a vice president of player personnel for the San Francisco 49ers, returns to a franchise he helped lead to a Super Bowl XXVI victory as a player. As an executive, he will be tasked with revamping the roster, probably starting with a difficult quarterback situation.

“Martin is a proven general manager who will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the organization,” Rivera said in a statement. “He will be an integral part of running the daily football operations and will allow me the opportunity to focus more on coaching. He impressed both myself and Mr. Snyder during the interview process and we both believe he will be a tremendous fit here. He is a man of high character and integrity and was part of the rich history and tradition of this great franchise as a member of the Super Bowl championship team in 1991.”

Mayhew was one of six candidates to interview with Washington over the past week as it sought to remake its front office, but Rivera has remained coy about the role of a GM.

Washington shifted to a coach-centric front office when it hired Rivera a year ago, giving him final say over the roster as the team’s top football decision-maker. He will retain that authority, and led the team’s GM search. But during his introductory news conference last January, Rivera said he envisioned a collaborative front office, similar to the one Seattle has with coach/executive vice president of football operations Pete Carroll and GM John Schneider.

Rob Rogers, the team’s senior vice president of football administration and one of nearly two dozen people to follow Rivera from Carolina, will continue to manage Washington’s salary cap and lead contract negotiations.

Mayhew, a former cornerback drafted in the 10th round by the Buffalo Bills in 1988, spent nine years in the NFL, including four in Washington (1989-92) and another four in Tampa Bay (1993-96). While in Washington, he began taking night courses at Georgetown to work toward a law degree, which he finished after retiring from the NFL.

Mayhew interned in Washington’s pro personnel department for nine months, then was hired as the XFL’s director of football administration before heading to Detroit. He spent 15 seasons in the Lions’ front office, including eight as the team’s GM and, a season as the New York Giants’ director of football operations (2016), was hired by the 49ers to work in their personnel department. Mayhew spent two years as a senior personnel executive in San Francisco and the last two seasons as a VP of player personnel for the team.

Mayhew is the third Black GM hired in the NFL this year and makes Washington the first team in history to have minorities as team president, coach and GM; Jason Wright took over as team president in August.

In accordance with the NFL’s new diversity measure, San Francisco will receive three third-round compensatory draft picks — one in each of the next three drafts — for the departures of Mayhew and former defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who was hired to be the head coach of the New York Jets.

Hurney, 65, is set to reunite with Rivera for a third time, after two stints in Carolina as the team’s GM. A former sportswriter, Hurney worked at the Washington Star and once covered Washington’s NFL team for the Washington Times. He previously worked in Washington’s public relations department before joining Bobby Beathard in San Diego as the Chargers’ assistant GM (1990-97). He was hired as the Panthers’ director of football administration in 1999 and elevated to GM to 2002.

Hurney was fired in 2012 but returned to Carolina in 2017 on an interim basis before reclaiming the job full time the following season. In his 15 seasons as GM in Carolina, the Panthers went 107-121 (including 16-30 in his final three seasons) and finished above .500 four times.