Former San Francisco 49ers executive Martin Mayhew is surprisingly leaving the NFL after working the last four seasons with the Washington Commanders. According to Matt Barrows of The Athletic, Commanders GM Adam Peters told reporters on Tuesday that Mayhew decided to retire.
Adam Peters announces that longtime associate Martin Mayhew has decided to retire.
— Matt Barrows (@mattbarrows) February 25, 2025
Mayhew has spent the last four years with the Commanders, serving as their general manager starting in 2021. The former San Francisco executive was Washington’s GM for three seasons until this past offseason when the Commanders cleaned house and brought in a new coaching staff.
With Ron Rivera out as head coach and Dan Quinn taking over, the Commanders’ brass wanted a new GM in charge and hired Adam Peters. Peters worked with Mayhew in San Francisco. However, they did not part ways with Mayhew.
The Commanders re-assigned Mayhew’s role within the organization, naming him a senior personnel executive/advisor to the general manager. Before joining the Commanders in 2021, Mayhew spent some years (2017-20) on the west coast with the Niners.
With the 49ers, the former Detroit Lions GM helped John Lynch learn on the fly as a general manager, which proved to be a good move. The 49ers are one of the best teams in the NFC and have been considered a Super Bowl contender for multiple years.
After his playing days were over, Mayhew’s first huge front office job was being the Lions senior advisor/GM. Mayhew endured some rough times as Detroit’s general manager, but they had two winning seasons, leading to playoff appearances.
He was the senior advisor for five seasons before receiving an upgrade in title. Mayhew became the Lions’ executive VP of football operations/general manager and held that position until 2015.