Jay Gruden: Daniel Snyder Would 'Come in off His Yacht' to Make NFL Draft Picks

Jay Gruden has offered some insight into what it was like to work for Washington Football Team owner Daniel Snyder. 

Speaking to Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post, the head coach said Snyder had a unique way of interfering with the team's draft picks:

"Every year that I was there, we had a pretty good draft class, with a couple exceptions. [Former Washington director of college personnel Kyle Smith] was really good about listening to the coaches because the coaches also did evaluations. ... When it came our time to pick, we’d always talk about the picks, where we’d like to go, what happens if [the player] is gone, and did all our scenarios. And then [owner Daniel Snyder] would come in off his yacht and make the pick.”

While it's unclear how often Snyder put himself in charge of Washington's drafts, there have reportedly been two notable times it has happened. 

Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan reported in April 2019 that Snyder had "taken over the first round of the draft" that year for the first time since Washington made the move to acquire the No. 2 pick in 2012 to select Robert Griffin III.

The Football Team selected Dwayne Haskins with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft. 

Early in the 2019 season, Les Carpenter of the Washington Post reported that Gruden "did not want" to draft Haskins. Gruden was fired in October 2019 after Washington started the season 0-5. He went 35-49-1 overall in six seasons as head coach. 

The pick wound up being a bust, as Haskins was released by the Football Team on Dec. 28. He threw for 2,804 yards with 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions in 16 games. 

Since Snyder bought the Football Team in 1999, the franchise has won two playoff games in six postseason appearances. They have 13 losing seasons during that span, including in 2020 when they won the NFC East with a 7-9 record.