Days after allegedly finalizing an agreement with Marty Hurney, general manager of the Carolina Panthers, to manage their own front line, the Washington Football Team changed course and named Martin Mayhew as GM before the 2021 season, according to ESPN and NFL Network. Hurney will have a “high-ranking front office role,” according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, but it is Mayhew, the former San Francisco 49ers executive and former NFL cornerback, who will now lead the team alongside the coach Ron Rivera.
Previous reports indicated that 55-year-old Mayhew would enter Washington in an executive role, but not as a GM. After four seasons with the 49ers, serving as senior staff executive and vice president of player personnel, he becomes the first official GM in Washington since Bruce Allen, who lost the title in his final years with the franchise as president of team. He is also the third minority GM to be hired during the off-season of 2021, after Brad Holmes and Terry Fontenot.
Mayhew spent nine seasons playing in the NFL as a cornerback, including Washington from 1989-1992, a period that included a Super Bowl title in 1991. His career in the front office began in 2000, as director of football administration in the first version of the XFL has since revived (and resold). From 2001 to 2015, he joined the Detroit Lions staff, moving from senior vice president and assistant to GM before becoming GM of Detroit – a role he held for eight seasons. After a year with the New York Giants, he joined the Niners, working alongside GM John Lynch during the recent NFC title race in San Francisco.
Lions made it to the playoffs in just two of Mayhew’s eight seasons as 2008-2015 Lions GM, reaching 47-81 combined, including 0-16 in his first year as director.