Do we finally have an end in sight for the sale of the Washington Commanders?
According to a new report from Nicki Jhabvala and Mark Maske of The Washington Post, prospective owners Josh Harris and Mitchell Rales met with the NFL finance committee in New York. The meeting was productive and positive, which could lead to NFL owners approving Harris’ $6.05 billion deal with Daniel Snyder as soon as next month.
When Snyder and Harris reached a tentative deal last month, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and other owners cautioned that the deal wasn’t done but indicated they saw nothing to prevent the deal from being done.
“It was very positive,” a source told Jhabvala and Maske. “It went really well. It’s not done yet. But unless something crazy happens, it’s going to get done, and it will get approved.”
The Post noted that barring anything unforeseen, the sale is advancing toward ratification, which could come next month. NFL teams report to training camp in July, meaning Harris and his group would be in place before the start of the 2023 NFL season.
This is significant as head coach Ron Rivera has said the team’s current ownership situation is preventing the team from making any significant deals. That means the Commanders can’t open contract negotiations with players they would love to extend, such as Kamren Curl and Montez Sweat, among others.
The NFL’s concerns were allegedly due to how the Harris group structured the deal, as it was significantly above the NFL’s $1.1 billion debt limit. Harris has agreed to restructure the deal, as he and his multiple partners are worth well over $100 combined.
We’ll continue to follow this story.