Redskins Meet Rooney Rule Requirement, McCloughan Watch is On

Lat last night, Albert Breer reported that the Washington Redskins have met the requirements for the Rooney Rule after interviewing former Arizona Cardinals general manager Rod Graves.  The Rooney Rule requires that teams who are hiring head coaches or senior executives must first interview a minority candidate.  The rule was initiated in 2002 for head coaches, and then senior executives were included shortly after.  Last year there was a push to include assistant coaches to the Rooney Rule requirements, but that did not pass, and hasn't been revisited this year.  The Fritz-Pollard Alliance Foundation puts out a list annually of the best minority candidates for the top positions in football. A quick look at the impact of the Rooney Rule on the hiring of minority coaches/executives in the NFL.

Sources say Redskins interviewed former Cardinals GM Rod Graves on Monday for their GM position. So Rooney Rule has been met there.

— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 7, 2015

It's a little surprising that the Redskins were able to keep the Rod Graves interview from being leaked until almost 11PM last night.  Graves is currently working in the New York Jets front office, and serves as the stand-in GM after John Idzik was fired last week.  Graves served as the GM of the Cardinals from 2002 to 2012.  Breer reports that the Graves interview happened on Monday.  Kevin Sheehan spoke with Scot McCloughan yesterday, and was told that McCloughan interviewed with Dan Snyder for 6 hours.  Multiple reports have stated that McCloughan has accepted the job with the Redskins, but the final details of the deal, including money and power were being worked out.  McCloughan also told Sheehan yesterday that he would have control of personnel if the job is finalized.  When asked about the QB situation, he simply said he didn't know yet.

There were reports of interest from other teams, including the New York Jets and the Oakland Raiders, that could be potentially holding up the deal.   Mike Silver reported that McCloughan rejected an offer from Raiders owner Mark Davis because Davis was unwilling to give McCloughan the role he desired.  Reggie McKenzie is still in charge in Oakland, and that wasn't going to change if McCloughan was hired.  A last minute offer from Davis was immediately rejected. The New York Jets were initially reported to not be one of the teams interested, but yesterday's report from PFT threw their name in the ring.  A report from NJ.com countered that report:

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Jets have had conversations with McCloughan, but not about their vacant job at general manager. That person spoke to NJ Advance Media on condition of anonymity because he or she was not authorized to talk publicly on the matter.

Mike Silver echoed Michael Robinson's initial story that McCloughan to the Redskins is happening, and that a press conference will likely happen Friday or Saturday to announce the deal.  Bruce Allen will reportedly remain the Team President, but give full player personnel control over to McCloughan.  This will mean big changes in the scouting and personnel divisions, with more changes likely to come.  But for now, we wait for the offiicial word on the hiring.