Washington’s decision to claim linebacker Reuben Foster on waivers didn’t come without dissenters. Which means that, in time, the naysayers could prevail.
Les Carpenter and Kareem Copeland of the Washington Post report that Washington “decision-makers were said to be divided” on whether to claim Foster., and that the front office was “far from unanimous.”
Team president Bruce Allen “masterminded” the decision, according to the report.
That term implies that a level of complexity and nuance that a decision to pick up a player who has been discarded by another rarely has, but it’s not every day that a former first-round pick is available for reasons independent of his football skills. If, as it appears, there were team employees who didn’t want Foster, Allen had to find a way to get others in line with the move.
Whether they stay in line with the move remains to be seen. Given the widespread criticism of the acquisition of Foster, plenty of front-office personnel who were saying “no” on Tuesday may be declaring “I told you so” today. And if the so-called mastermind can’t hold together a fragile consensus, Foster could be one negative report away from becoming a former member of the team.
Regardless of whether Allen made it happen, the decision sticks squarely to owner Daniel Snyder. Viewed as renegade last year when he supported the effort of Jerry Jones, fueled in part by a six-game suspension levied against Ezekiel Elliott, to block the Commissioner’s extension, Snyder’s acquisition becomes a middle finger to the powers that be, taking attention away from football and giving the media a non-football issue that has been discussed and dissected in a way that makes the team and the league look bad.
