The Redskins selected the best defensive player in college football last year, a guy that could legitimately alter the direction of the franchise, and honestly, that's not even the best news from draft weekend.

Washington made a trade with San Francisco and with Kyle Shanahan, signaling a far more important cultural change with broader impacts than the no-brainer selection of Chase Young.

Why?

Shanahan coached in Washington for four seasons from 2010 to 2013, and when things ended, they ended with an atomic mushroom. Kyle Shanahan has never missed an opportunity to bad mouth the Redskins, or owner Dan Snyder in particular, in the seven seasons since he left the Burgundy and Gold. For years it looked like the Redskins organization would never again deal with Shanahan, even when it was best for the team.

A few years back, the 49ers wanted to trade for Kirk Cousins. They were willing to pay a reasonable price, but former Washington team president Bruce Allen would not even entertain the offer. Instead, the Redskins clumsily kept Cousins around for two seasons on a franchise tag, paying him $44 million before letting him walk as a free agent in exchange for a late third-round compensatory pick.

It wasn't smart, or shrewd, and was done largely out of spite.

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Fast forward a few years to the first offseason with Ron Rivera at the helm, and things already look much different.

Rivera had plenty of reasons to want to make things difficult for Trent Williams. Despite a meeting that got some positive reviews, Williams still wanted out of Washington. Along the way, Williams' agent accused the organization of not operating in good faith and submarining trade efforts, even though Williams' representatives had gotten permission to work on the trade.

Eventually, when the best offer came, and it came from San Francisco, Rivera pulled the trigger. He sent Williams to play for Shanahan.

It was the right move for the Redskins - it allowed the Williams saga to finally end - and it was the right move for Williams.

It's hard to know what Rivera had to say or do to get ownership on board with the trade. Pressed for details, all the Washington head coach would talk about was that he wanted fair compensation, and felt that the Redskins got it in the form of two draft picks that included a 2021 third-round selection.

The truth is probably that Rivera had to wield his influence to make clear that Williams had to go, and if the best offer was from a Shanahan, so be it.

And that's the most important takeaway from the Williams trade.

For months, Rivera has shown he runs Redskins Park. He did it by overhauling the coaching staff, he did it by clearing out the medical staff, and slowly, he's done it with the players in the locker room. He's putting together the team he wants and the players he wants that will act in the manner he wants.

Not everything was easy. Not trading away Quinton Dunbar for a fifth-round pick, and definitely not all the nonsense that came along during the Trent Williams saga.

In the end, however, Rivera got his team and got his way.

Whatever reservations about working with Shanahan existed, the Redskins got past them. And let's be clear, it's entirely possible Williams and Shanahan are holding a Lombardi Trophy next February. For many at Redskins Park, that will be a tough pill to swallow.

But here's the thing about getting better - sometimes tough pills must get swallowed.

Rivera knows that. He took the Redskins job knowing that tough decisions laid ahead, and he also took the job knowing he had full support from ownership.

That's been a question in the past, and some coaches would say they didn't get full support from ownership. Shanahan said it loudly.

Chase Young could transform the Redskins defense this fall. He could register 10 sacks and become a huge star in his hometown. Still, Rivera getting a trade done with Shanahan, for a star player and franchise cornerstone like Williams, shows real organizational growth.

Young was the easy call. He's a stud. Trading Williams to San Francisco was the hard call, damn near impossible, and Rivera pulled it off.

In the NFL like in real life, actions matter much more than words. It's easy to say Rivera is the boss and has complete control of football operations. It's another for it to actually happen.

Redskins fans should buy the Chase Young jersey and be excited about his prospects, but at the same time, recognize that the biggest decision from draft weekend didn't come with the second overall pick.

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