Dan Snyder moves to sell Commanders ahead of likely NFL action
Dan Snyder, co-owner and co-CEO of the Washington Commanders, poses for photos during an event to unveil the NFL football team's new identity, Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2022, in Landover, Md. Credit: AP/Patrick Semansky
IRVING, Texas — At the previous league meeting in the fall Colts owner Jim Irsay suggested Commanders owner Dan Snyder should be voted out of the league.
That may not be necessary.
Snyder appears to be on the verge of selling the team before anyone can force him to do so. Bank of America, the investment bank hired by Dan and Tanya Snyder, is moving forward with the process for them to consider offers to purchase all or part of the team, The Washington Post reported Wednesday. The bank is set to send what amounts to a prospectus for the team to qualified potential buyers who agree to confidentiality.
The report said the Snyders are most likely to sell the entire franchise. Any sale, whether it’s the entirety or a minority share, must be approved by at least three-quarters of the other NFL team owners.
“Certainly that would be a better solution if it came to that,” Irsay said at Wednesday’s NFL Meeting, noting that he “still feels the same” about Snyder’s involvement in the league. Snyder is currently suspended
There were plenty of topics on the agenda and 12 votes taken on Wednesday but Snyder and the recently released congressional report that lambasted both him and the league was the hottest topic in the hallways and during the owners-only session.
“I don’t have any comments as to the contents of the meeting today,” said Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who added that he still has a good relationship with Snyder. “We want to be really, really guarded about what’s said in the meetings.”
Roger Goodell said the owners were officially briefed on the congressional report but not on any pending sale of the Commanders.
“I don’t have any expectations on that,” he said of a potential sale. “Dan's statement that he put out was that he was exploring that and we’ll continue to work with him on that.”
Notes & quotes: Various field surfaces and their impact on injuries was one of the topics on the agenda at the meeting. The Giants and Jets are currently sampling other surfaces at their facilities with plans to replace the slit-firm turf at MetLife Stadium before next season. Jeff Miller, an executive vice president for the NFL, said the league will provide data to the teams on a variety of surfaces “and hopefully they’ll make an informed decision” . . . NFL executive vice president Troy Vincent said the league will put an emphasis on increasing the “level of dignity and respect” for players at the Combine, including streamlining medical examinations and eliminating unprofessional interview questions.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
