Washington Commanders owners Dan and Tanya Snyder were not in attendance Monday for the beginning of NFL’s two-day owners’ meetings in Minneapolis, leaving team President Jason Wright and other officials to represent the franchise while the league gathers to discuss the team’s $6.05 billion sale to billionaire Josh Harris.
Wright, Snyder adviser Karl Schreiber and attorney Norm Chirite are among those representing the Commanders, according to multiple reports. Though NFL owners were to set to be briefed on the state of Harris’ deal, a league official said last week that no vote for the Commanders’ sale would be taken at the Minneapolis meetings. For Harris’ deal with Snyder to become official, he needs to receive at least 24 of 32 votes from NFL owners.
The league’s finance committee also reportedly held a 90-minute meeting Monday with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The finance committee — made up of eight owners — is reviewing the structure of Harris’ deal and reportedly has concerns about the complexity of the agreement. Harris said in a press release that he has at least a dozen limited partners as part of his bid, an unusually large number that requires thorough background checks.
“We’re a little ways away, but we’re working hard,” Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, a member of the finance committee, told reporters in Minnesota. “Everyone wants to get it done and it’s setting that it just complies with league policy.
“It’s a complicated deal so we’re trying to just work through it and we’re hopeful that we can get it done. It’s going to take probably several more weeks of discussions before we see if we can reach the goal line.”
While neither Dan nor Tanya Snyder is expected to attend the meeting Tuesday, this isn’t the first time that the couple has missed the league gathering. Dan Snyder has not attended a league meeting since the NFL issued a $10 million fine to Washington in July 2021 for the team’s workplace misconduct scandal.
As part of that punishment, the league said Snyder was voluntarily giving up day-to-day control of the franchise for several months to his wife Tanya, who would also represent the team on league business.
Since then, Tanya has attended most of the meetings. However, last May, she also missed the meeting in Atlanta because she tested positive for COVID-19.
Over the weekend, Wright told reporters at a flag football clinic that the NFL and Snyder’s “family office” were working hard to get the sale approved. “I don’t expect it to take long, but I don’t have an estimate on the timeline, either,” Wright said. “It’s a league-run process.”
With no vote being taken in Minneapolis, owners aren’t scheduled to meet again until next October. But if the Commanders’ sale is ready for owners’ approval sometime before then, the NFL can always call for a special meeting — as the league did last August when owners gathered to approve Rob Walton’s $4.65 billion to purchase the Denver Broncos. Irsay said Monday that a special meeting was a possibility for the Commanders’ sale, telling reporters “it would be great to have a new ownership group in place before the season begins.”
Speaking to reporters, though, Irsay made clear that questions remain. He did not elaborate on specifics, but said that there are “certain criteria that has to be met” for a deal to get done. Irsay, who said he took no issue with the Snyders not being at the meeting, repeatedly noted that Harris’ bid has to comply with NFL rules in order to get approved. A Harris spokesperson declined to comment.
Asked if he was confident the issues can be resolved, Irsay said it depends on Harris’ group. A source with knowledge of the situation said that Harris’ group did not attend the meetings in Minneapolis.
“They kind of know what the rules are,” Irsay said. “I know that they really want to get a deal done. And we do. So you hope that carries the day, but at this point, I can’t say — you hope that it gets done. There’s more work to be done, at this point.”
In other league action Monday, the owners approved a rule change that allows teams to play an emergency quarterback from the inactive list if the first two are injured during a game, a decision that stems from San Francisco’s depth-chart challenge in the NFC Championship game. The third quarterback designation will not count against the limit of active players — either 47 or 48 — that is determined 90 minutes before kickoff.
• Matthew Paras can be reached at mparas@washingtontimes.com.
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