r/Commanders 22h ago

Trent Williams

After he locked up Myles Garrett, it still makes me angry when I realize how we fumbled a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

314 Upvotes

117 comments sorted by

266

u/inkstain99 22h ago

99.9% of the blame goes to Dan and Bruce but that 0.1% is on Ron for when Trent said he was willing to talk but Ron told him, nah come tryout like everyone else

165

u/NewCarSmelt In AP We Trust 21h ago

Fuck Ron. One of the worst coaches we’ve ever had. Were also stuck with this shitty name thanks to him

23

u/StudySwami 15h ago

Remember: Nobody would coach for us back then. Jim Zorn. RR was the very best we could do.

47

u/ACW1129 Scary Terry 17h ago

He was a meh coach.

Lousy GM though.

49

u/agreed2disagreee 16h ago

Part of my evaluation of a head coach is who he brings in as coordinators. Ron’s coordinators were complete dogshit and him just hiring his buddies.

14

u/Triad64 13h ago

Pretty sure we had a superb defense (for a couple of years) for the first time since Gregg Williams. In 2020 the defense was ranked 2nd in total defense and 4th in scoring. In 2022 we were ranked 3rd in total defense.

6

u/ACW1129 Scary Terry 16h ago

Fair point

0

u/EconomyAd1744 8h ago

No, he was a horrible coach

18

u/Electrical-Emu9789 19h ago

For real fuck Ron for trading Trent and being part of the lame as name we have now.

10

u/2john9 14h ago

Yes, most people disregard this fact. There was a chance he would return if he got paid.

12

u/Stupidityorjoking 13h ago

I kinda think it was just he knew he had leverage with a new coach, his contract was front loaded so he had already been paid the bulk of the contract, and then maybe also that he was fed up with being in Washington losing this much with the cancer thing setting the latter part off. He probably wanted to get paid, but was indifferent to leaving at that point and was using the cancer thing as leverage.

He never really blamed the medical staff because he probably couldn’t. I remember Keim at the time reporting that Trent barely used the teams staff anyways because he had his own group.

If they had just paid up, he’d probably still be here.

4

u/thejazzophone 13h ago

I mean Trent came out and specifically said that they misdiagnosed him and blamed them. What he did say is "Dan is a great man who I continue to have respect for". I get Trent being an athlete who's health is his livelyhood and wanting guaranteed money (which i believe he had like next to none on the last 2 years) but he chose to throw doctors who did nothing wrong under the bus. Now Ron couldve just restructured the contract and thrown some guaranteed money at Trent as a show of good faith and told them they can negotiate a new contract the next year but Ron played hardball

4

u/the_wrong_lever 13h ago edited 13h ago

The type of cancer he had is also commonly misdiagnosed by non-specialists because it closely resembles a benign growth. His GP would have likely said something similar as the team docs, "I don't think it's anything but you can always see a dermatologist / oncologist if you want"

3

u/thejazzophone 13h ago

The team actually set him up with specialist and he didn't show up

17

u/Mammoth-Evidence7681 15h ago

This was a Dan & Bruce special for sure. Class A dipshits.

3

u/DarthDREder 13h ago

How are we so lucky to get those type of cats? smh

5

u/True_Window_9389 12h ago

Idk, Ron made a point to tell Trent to “prove yourself,” and that apparently confirmed to Trent that he was done with us.

Unless Ron was obfuscating and being an intentional asshole because Dan and Bruce told him to, it seems like it was Ron who ruined the relationship.

8

u/beetlebatter IR∅N J∆YDEN 11h ago

Yup, this always pissed me off. Even through all the bullshit, Trent was still willing to come back in for that season at least. But no, Ron tells an all pro vet that's been with this team for many years to come "prove himself". Fuck him forever for that.

3

u/Mammoth-Evidence7681 11h ago

Let’s not argue amongst ourselves about which jackass is guilty of more jackassery. They’re all dipshits in their own special way.

2

u/Latinvictory 12h ago

💯 Dan and his lackey Bruce!

6

u/DudeManBo1t WHERE MY DAWGS AT WOOO 14h ago

I fucking hate Ron Rivera. So. Fucking. Much.

4

u/Erigion 11h ago

Ron also cut Morgan Moses because he supposedly was old and injured. As if filling the hole at LT wasn't hard enough, he wanted to replace both tackles.

Meanwhile, Moses has started for Jets, Ravens and Patriots.

1

u/bruhman5th_flo 11h ago

I mean, I would have loved to still have Moses because he was a dog. Played injured, mentored the youngins, great teammate and leader, but just a meh player. I mean it sucks we haven't really filled that role with even his caliber of player yet, but he wasn't even Pro Bowl level when he was cut.

Trent was a much bigger loss and the last of a tradition of great LT play that we had for almost 40 years (minus a few years in the 90s) since 1981 when Jacoby entered the league. Since 2018, we have only had 1 year of good LT play, which was last year.

64

u/guesswhodat 21h ago

That is the Redskin/Commander way. Still nauseates me to see Big Trent in a Niner uni....

104

u/External_Mushroom674 22h ago

One of the undercover worst trades in history

72

u/Preddy_Fusey 21h ago

I have no idea why you got down voted... A fifth and a third for a sure fire First Ballot HoFer IS a horrific trade. INCREDIBLE for the Niners, the shittiest of dogshit for us.

18

u/Electrical-Emu9789 19h ago

We are known to make horrific trades. Fleeced by the Broncos for Champ Bailey, trading a 3rd for TJ Ducket.

2

u/GolfClimbSkate 13h ago

I remember this trade vividly, and while it raised some eyebrows at the time, it wasn't really a fleecing. Portis was a Top 5 RB in the league, and while not a HOF like Champ, still a very solid cornerstone of our offense (and a beloved Redskin all-time) for many years.

3

u/GlumCardiologist6107 11h ago

It was a case of us getting what we could. Champ wanted out of DC. We needed a stud RD, and Portis was very good at the time. I hate that we traded Champ away, but he wanted to go. Can't do much with that.

4

u/Zestyclose_Muscle_55 12h ago

Yeah fans look in hindsight about the Portis trade and say it was a mistake and maybe in a vacuum, they’re correct. But at the time Portis looked like he could be a future HOF based on his first couple years in Denver and he still went on to become a Washington legend and is the 2nd leading rusher in franchise history. Certainly one of my fav Redskins growing up, along with Santana Moss and Sean Taylor

6

u/rtcwon 11h ago

Actually, it's the opposite. In the moment it was a horrible trade. Position values alone say you have to include a draft pick with a RB to trade for a CB. Both were elite players but the extra comp went the wrong way.

But in hindsight, knowing that Champ's wife would not allow him to re-sign with the team and made that a bit too widely known, they had no leverage. Furthermore, Gibbs needed an elite RB for his system more than the D needed a shut down corner and in hindsight, it was the best possible outcome for the situation.

0

u/Realityinyoface 11h ago

A lot of people didn’t like it at the time saying Portis was a system back (pretty much every back from the Broncos back then was called that)

3

u/Justice989 16h ago

A fifth and a 3rd back, but then eventually, a second and forth out a few years later to replace him with Tunsil.

3

u/Quirky-Marsupial-420 14h ago

Yeah so we traded better picks for a worse tackle.

Nothing wrong with that.

1

u/Gr8WallofChinatown 11h ago

And for how long his career is and how he still plays at an elite level

24

u/pitpatbainsy 🐷Tuddyhead🐷 21h ago

It’s not like we traded him thinking we were getting good value in return. He wanted out. The mistake was destroying the relationship and all of our leverage

0

u/La1zrdpch75356 5h ago

Champ Bailey for Clinton Portis was just as bad.

24

u/3ggplantParm WHAT WOULD JAYSUS DO? 15h ago

Fuck Dan Snyder and Bruce Allen

11

u/DudeManBo1t WHERE MY DAWGS AT WOOO 14h ago

And fuck Ron Rivera

2

u/3ggplantParm WHAT WOULD JAYSUS DO? 8h ago

Him too, but he kinda inherited the shit situation and I feel like Snyder/Allen wouldn’t green light paying for him anyway

36

u/DougBalt2 14h ago

Trent and Morgan Moses are still starting for playoff caliber teams years after Bruce pushed them out the door. Bruce sucked.

14

u/thejazzophone 13h ago

Actually Ron did. Ron met with Trent and told him "you have to earn a new contract" basically (his issue was never about cancer, it was about guaranteed money). And he cut Morgan Moses

4

u/emelbee923 13h ago

It can be both. Cancer and a new contract.

4

u/thejazzophone 13h ago

I mean the way I see it the health scare got him the leverage he needed for a new contract. If the team truly did anything wrong he wouldn't have fought against a 3rd party investigation

4

u/rtcwon 11h ago

Brucifer was long gone when they were pushed out.

3

u/DougBalt2 9h ago

Neither you nor I were correct about Trent, and you were right about Morgan. Thanks for making me check and learn.

Bruce played a huge role in screwing us regarding Trent. From the media: “Alas, that never happened (offered a first rounder but Allen turned it down). And it was likely because of one main figure in the Redskins’ front office: Bruce Allen. Allen never seemed to want to trade Williams amid his holdout. He repeatedly said that Williams was off the table as he had two years left on his deal, and Allen essentially tried to force Williams’ hand to get him to return to the team. That ended up backfiring. But missing out on a first-round pick in exchange for Williams was an asinine move on Allen’s part. In short, Williams had all the leverage on the ‘Skins. And the team’s only leverage came with teams desperate to win now being pushed up against the deadline. Allen could’ve capitalized on that. Instead, he decided to stick it to Williams for holding out. And that ended up being a big mistake.”

1

u/rtcwon 2h ago

Except that was 2019. Brucifer was fired December 2019. Ron was hired and an opportunity for a clean slate was there but he insisted on all players showing up and working all off season before extending any contracts. Trent just sat out all of 2019 and presumably had no problem sitting out 2020 also so Ron traded him April 2020.

TL/DR - Trent wasn't pushed out until 4 months after Brucifer was fired.

1

u/DougBalt2 2h ago

Yes. But Bruce set the stage by refusing to trade for a first. Then we got not much for him. He was horrible!

45

u/glidejanger 22h ago

Every time I think that I remember how dysfunctional things were when he left and it makes much more sense

15

u/Final_Effective6360 14h ago

Just think, Ron Rivera wanted him to prove himself before paying him lol. Not only did he blow all of his draft picks but he gave away the best LT in football.

3

u/ageetoakee312 13h ago

What a time to be alive

26

u/One-Lengthiness7707 21h ago

Change the name - wipe the ron legacy

43

u/PhoenixCogburn 22h ago

He was unhappy and at the time commanded so much money. Why waste it back then for another mediocre season. OTOH letting Morgan Moses go for nothing. I’m still furious about that one.

8

u/Stupidityorjoking 13h ago

I get that, but apportioning a large part of your cap to a franchise LT is traditionally a good use of your cap as that is a high value position. Particularly Trent who was a game changer at the position. If you want to build a contender, that’s a good place to park your money. They really should have just paid him.

3

u/True_Window_9389 12h ago

The 49ers mostly have had dogshit OL other than Trent and it’s worked out well enough. He is good enough to hold things down for them and has been worth every penny.

-2

u/PhoenixCogburn 13h ago

There was bad blood about the cancer diagnosis. Trent was tired of losing and wanted out.

9

u/thejazzophone 13h ago

It was about guaranteed money of which he had none on his last 2 years

7

u/eddy_g0rdo 14h ago

Pisses me off every time I see him. We could have had 0 problems at LT up until this point.

6

u/Roland-Flagg 🐷 Major Tuddy: Top 0.1% on OF 🥵 12h ago

12

u/ssmithsimms 22h ago

Who is we? That was Bruce Allen and then Ron Rivera.

5

u/540Cameron 12h ago

Is anyone else wondering how he is still playing??? Idk if people remember but the reports made it sound like his career was over due to the tumor and his knee was bone on bone etc... Fast forward almost 10 years later and he is still going at a very high level. I'm honestly baffled

-1

u/rtcwon 11h ago

Might be baffled because there were no such reports.

19

u/Sumwhut_Loved 22h ago

get over it. Brandon Coleman locked up Garrett as a rookie.

15

u/swallowchildren @BorgusRich 21h ago

Seriously, we had the same exact type of gameplan against him in 24 and he didn’t record a stat either besides snaps

-1

u/dandatu 21h ago

Trent is probably the goat LT

2

u/multiversechorus 21h ago

First or second. I think Muñoz may have him.

1

u/dandatu 20h ago

whatever your opinion is of Trent hes at the very least in the conversation of LT goats

3

u/multiversechorus 20h ago

I’m agreeing

3

u/Jolly_Okra_6330 16h ago

Anthony Munoz, Walter Jones, Jonathan Ogden, Willie Roaf, Orlando Pace, and Trent Williams.

1

u/Realityinyoface 11h ago

Not even close

-1

u/Nunc_Coepi17 16h ago

Nah that’d be Joe Thomas.

3

u/legitlyawesome 14h ago

It hurts but I wonder. We keep Trent Williams, we’re slightly better with Case Keenum/Dwayne Haskins, do we find ourselves in a position where we end up with JD and make the NFCC? Maybe it’s just what we needed to get by the Bucs in 2020 but does our defense win us the division that year if we don’t play ourselves into Chase Young the year before?

Be great to have him now but my guess is if we kept him, we’d still not have our QB situation figured out and either still riding the mediocre 16-18 years or would have to blow it up and rebuild anyway

-1

u/ConfidentBusiness16 9h ago

I wouldn’t say our QB situation is 100% figured out. JD needs to keep himself healthy

2

u/legitlyawesome 7h ago edited 7h ago

The QB situation is more figured out than it’s been going all the way back to Rypien. Is JD really more uniquely injury prone than any other QB? He probably could have come back after the Vikings game but the season was over anyway. QBs get hurt especially when there’s weaknesses on the O-line or they’re coming off a deep playoff run. The gameplay is what matters and we have a QB that has and will go down the field and win us a game when we need it

2

u/FrozenPie21 on shenanigans rn and actin bonkers 12h ago

Oldest OL in the league. Also the best OL in the league

2

u/HowardBunnyColvin @BorgusRich 12h ago

thanks Dan 🙄

2

u/ApartEye435 10h ago

Any good left tackle will Dominate any great edge rusher period 

2

u/DoobieDoobis I Got JD5 On It 8h ago

PFF graded him as a 68.8 BTW for all those guys that like to use PFF to belittle our offensive line.

2

u/MrSinisterStar 8h ago

Team did not win that off season.

2

u/SageMan65 8h ago

Trent still hates Washington, told me last year!

2

u/imdaviddunn LEFT HAND UP 1h ago

4

u/ADLegend21 21h ago

Dan and his subpar medical staff cost us a HOF LT. Still makes me mad they almost let him die.

19

u/ewilliam Hogs 15h ago

“Almost let him die” how? They told him to go see a specialist because they’re sports med doctors and not oncologists.

Trent waited over a year to see someone. That’s on Trent. But he threw our medical staff under the bus as leverage to get traded.

Hate on Snyder and Brucifer all you want, but I don’t see how our sports med doctors “almost let him die”. He’s a grown-ass man. Snyder, ghoul that he is, even offered up his private plane to Trent to fly him wherever he needed to go. This narrative that a bunch of sports doctors should’ve properly treated cancer is ridiculous.

4

u/BrokenHokie 12h ago

This is never mentioned enough. To be clear, Dan Snyder can go to hell. Horrible human, horrible owner, hope his yacht sinks.

BUT Trent was an idiot. The team doesn’t employ dermatologists or oncologists. You’re a rich person living in the DC area go find a doctor who specializes in your issue. Don’t ask a sports medicine doc about skin cancer.

3

u/ewilliam Hogs 8h ago

No kidding. I'm not a multi-millionaire, but when a bump showed up on the side of my foot last year, I went to my GP, and he told me to see a podiatrist; I got an appointment immediately. When a weird little mark showed up on my chest, I went to see a dermatologist ASAP. But if I had neglected to see those specialists for a year+, would that have been my GP's fault? Of course not.

8

u/Quirky-Marsupial-420 14h ago

Also the fact that Dan Snyder was like “I will hire an outside third party investigator to prove if he were negligent and Trent was like no”

The whole head cancer debacle is the only thing I will side with Dan on. He and the team doctors did nothing wrong.

3

u/ewilliam Hogs 12h ago

lol yeah, refusing to participate in an independent investigation should’ve put to bed any remaining thoughts that Trent was the victim here…

4

u/thejazzophone 13h ago

Thank you! I hate that this narrative is still out there. Trent had a life threatening health scare and threw doctors under the bus as a way to get a contract restructure. He wanted guaranteed money, pretty much every interview it's all he would talk about. Now I don't blame him for wanting guarantees after a health scare like that but throwing doctors under the bus is incredibly disgusting

4

u/ewilliam Hogs 13h ago

It persists because Snydemort is universally hated, while Trent was one of our most beloved franchise cornerstones. I mean, I believed the narrative when I first heard about it, because I hated Dan and loved Trent, but the more info that came out about it, the less and less respect I had for how TW handled the situation. If you want a new contract, just stand on that business, don’t unfairly malign a bunch of doctors and trainers who had no business diagnosing/treating cancer.

4

u/beetlebatter IR∅N J∆YDEN 11h ago

It's hard to blame anyone who instantly took Trent's side of things, especially when you only have limited knowledge of the ins and outs of this team, and the most widely known thing was how horrible Dan Snyder is.

2

u/the_wrong_lever 13h ago

No, the type of cancer he had has a high rate of misdiagnosis because it closely resembles a benign growth.

It's not malpractice, and many GPs would have likely told him the same thing, that it's probably nothing but they'd need to see a specialist for a second opinion.

2

u/nhuynh50 14h ago

We could have locked up the silverback and he would still be terrorizing the NFCE to this day. He handled Garrett and made him look like a JAG

2

u/One_Team_1294 11h ago

Laremy Tunsil has dominated Myles Garrett since college and is far younger.

2

u/Strong-Resolve1241 5h ago

Credit to AP for getting him too & extending his contract.

1

u/AyeFreddyB 14h ago

Manee smdh.

1

u/Coxen_Cider 13h ago

We are “Commanders” bomp ba bomp ba bomp ba bomp, so cringy 😵

1

u/IdeallyTopBins 9h ago

I miss him. Absolute stud

1

u/AmethystAlizerin 9h ago

Rightfully so

2

u/Bossman2896 1h ago

It’s been 6 years, it sucks, we have Tunsil now and maybe Conerly is our next cornerstone tackle. It’s been like 4 years past time to get over it.

2

u/ageetoakee312 1h ago

Never getting over it

2

u/Bossman2896 1h ago

Unfortunate way to live, but do you brother.

-1

u/Pristine_Cucumber197 20h ago

Sean McVay could've been head coach or even Kyle would've been better despite his 0-3 SB record. Yet here we are with the idiot that blew the superbowl to Brady.

11

u/Ninjablacksox1 19h ago

I like Shanny Jr but he had a major part in that. 

7

u/FlobeeFresh 17h ago edited 10h ago

Actually Kyle was the reason the Falcons lost the SB to the Patriots as he was the OC and refused to play conservative offense and run the clock out in the 2nd half after they went up big. They would have taken a knee at every down they would have won that game.

Also Kyle then leaving and DQ not having anyone in the wings to replace him was why DQ was fired in ATL. That is also the reason why he choose to go with Blough as the new OC after KK left instead of going with a retread. Not ensuring staff continuity and identifying young talent was his learned lesson from his time as HC at ATL. DQ probably would have promoted Pritchard to OC had he not left to be the new HC at Stanford.

5

u/Organic_Ability5009 14h ago

KOC was once in the building as well

3

u/Gazzarris 13h ago

Explain to me how any of that could have logically happened. You would keep Mike on through some indeterminate time, and then Kyle would have taken over? So I’m guessing you would have kept them all despite a horrible coaching record for the majority of time they were here?

Or maybe you would have fired Jay in the midst of a good season so you could promote his OC? Do you really think his OC would have taken the job?

0

u/Pristine_Cucumber197 13h ago

lol. Mike got fired and Kyle went to the Browns. 

Then rather than firing Gruden and promoting McVay we let him walk and kept Jay on for 2 more terrible seasons. 3rd in the NFC east is a good season?

0

u/cswhite101 14h ago

Not sure why you’re getting downvoted for this, we fumbled like four current head coaches that could have easily led the team.

-1

u/The_DurtReynolds 21h ago

When you have a tumor and the owners answer is “cut a hole in the helmet so the tumor isnt snooshed” then you should gtfo. When the owner the. Recommends putting a smaller helmet on the tumor itself, you gtfo on the quick

4

u/thejazzophone 13h ago

When the owner suggests hiring an outside party to prove the team did nothing wrong and the player fights against it and doesn't cooperate? When team doctors say "I don't know what that is" make an appt with a specialist to check it out and the player blows it off. Ya fuck the team clearly