Tag: jon gruden

Could Commanders owner Snyder, have one final trick up his sleeve?

The vote for Washington’s ownership transfer is expected this week.

[anyclip pubname=”2123″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8169″]

One NFL insider is not yet ready to say Washington Commanders owner Daniel Snyder won’t make one final attempt to mess up everything.

Though Daniel Snyder had his office at the Ashburn facility cleaned out prior to the 2022 season finale home game against Dallas, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is still not putting it past Snyder to attempt something.

“Daniel Snyder is leaving; he wants to leave it all behind him,” said Florio Thursday. He doesn’t want to be responsible for any liabilities that may arise in the future.”

However, there is one item Florio believes could cause problems in this sale to the Josh Harris group this upcoming Friday.

“I overlooked a very important issue of how the NFL and Daniel Snyder will handle the potential for liability arising from the actions of one or the other. Snyder presumably wants indemnification for anything that could stick to him in this Gruden email case.  The league may want indemnification for Dan Snyder for anything that could stick to them, caused by him.”

Florio feels “it is possible that both sides have civil liability to Jon Gruden by the time this is all said and done.”

Gruden may have some leverage in trying to get more of a financial settlement from the NFL. Thus, could this hold up the sale being approved this coming Friday?

Who leaked the Jon Gruden emails? Snyder testified under oath that he did not leak the emails. Bruce Allen testified under oath the NFL told him they did not leak the emails but that the leak came from the team.

How much money will be enough for Gruden to settle? Will the settlement be with the NFL or Snyder?

Florio doesn’t see Snyder wanting to move on so easily. “If he wants to be a jerk, yeah, he can hold their feet to the fire. ‘I want this, I want that. Hey, you want to get rid of me; you give me those things. Otherwise, I’m not going.’ Wouldn’t that be something?”

Meanwhile, Commanders fans, media following the team, franchise employees and the team itself want this to simply be concluded and for Snyder to determine he will quietly ride off into the sunset.

Having made a huge profit, after all.

Report: Legal issues ‘threaten to complicate’ Commanders sale

No one thought this would be easy.

[anyclip pubname=”2123″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8169″]

The worst possible scenario for Washington Commanders fans is Daniel Snyder remaining the owner of the team. While that appears highly unlikely, a new report from The Washington Post early Thursday morning says that legal issues could “threaten to complicate the approval and closing” of Snyder’s sale to a group led by Josh Harris, per Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala.

The Washington Post reported that it was uncertain if the complications would impact the NFL’s plans next week to approve the sale from Snyder to the Harris group.

The complications, or at least part of the issue, are related to the leak of the Jon Gruden emails in 2021 that led to his resignation as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders.

Apparently, the complications aren’t minor.

That person described the complications as “significant” and “not just some small snag,” expressing the view that the issues could delay the owners’ approval of the sale and the closing of the deal if they’re not resolved. But the person also left open the possibility that Snyder and his attorneys merely are attempting to extract last-minute concessions from the NFL on legal indemnification related to Gruden’s lawsuit against the league, and the issues will be resolved in time for the owners to ratify the deal as expected next Thursday.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

ESPN details how Jon Gruden email leaks led to Dan Snyder being forced to sell Commanders

Report: Jon Gruden email leaks led directly to Dan Snyder being forced to sell Commanders

[anyclip pubname=”2123″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8169″]

It’s funny how dots can be connected and traced back to when the first domino fell. It wasn’t so long ago that Dan Snyder seemed untouchable as the owner of the Commanders/Redskins/Washington Football Team. He was supremely confident he couldn’t be forced to do anything.

First it was his refusal to change the name of the team from the Redskins, despite mounting public and league pressure.

He ultimately did have to do that. Going with “Washington Football Team” (which is basically what many outlets were already calling them) before eventually going with Commanders as the new mascot.

Such was also the case with his ownership of the team despite serious lawsuits for toxic workplace allegations.

Once those came out, Snyder treated it like he did everything else — a staple of powerful people who aren’t often faced with anyone telling them “no” — he brushed it off.

But in this case, he may have gone a step farther. One step too far as it would happen.

We all know that in the midst of the investigation into Snyder and the Washington Football Team’s toxic workplace allegations, it was Raiders head coach Jon Gruden who was caught under the wheels of that bus.

Emails were discovered between Gruden and then Washington GM Bruce Allen that included some offensive language many deemed to be racist, homophobic, and misogynist in nature. Leading to Gruden’s forced resignation.

Some indepth reporting by ESPN reveals many details about how and perhaps *why* those emails were released. Along with the reverberation felt from it that went far beyond Gruden. Many believe it was Snyder himself who leaked them.

Snyder was in the midst of a suspension due to the results of the league’s investigation into his team’s conduct. He got impatient and wanted back in and hoped the leak would help get him back in Goodell’s good graces.

Lawyers close to the NFL and to Gruden said the choice to leak to the Times over The Washington Post, a newspaper Snyder hates, was a dead giveaway that Snyder and those around him were behind the leaks.

If that indeed was Snyder’s plan, it backfired. Big time.

No matter how the leaks were engineered, multiple sources draw a direct line from emails that trickled out over a few days in October 2021 to Snyder’s crash and his imminent $6.05 billion sale of the Commanders. Within days of the leaks, a congressional committee launched a wide-ranging investigation of the Commanders and the NFL that forced Goodell, Allen and Snyder to testify under oath. The congressional inquiry would lead to a federal criminal investigation into alleged financial misconduct by Snyder and the team. As pressure mounted, Snyder bragged to associates that he had collected dirt on his fellow owners and Goodell that could “blow up” the league. Unfazed, owners finally all but forced Snyder to sell his beloved franchise.

“He was free and clear that October — he just had to wait out his suspension and let everything blow over,” a source close to Snyder said. “A major miscalculation. Without the leaks, he might just have survived.”

Goodell’s response to the leaks was…not at all what Snyder was hoping for.

The commissioner was furious that the emails sullied the league’s image after years of trying to make progress in the areas of diversity, equity, and inclusiveness.

Not to mention, the leaks now got the attention of Congress who opened their own investigation into Snyder.

A source close to the committee told ESPN that, although congressional staff and some lawmakers were already interested in issues around the Commanders and Snyder, the string of leaks moved them to act. Their thinking was, if the leaks showed the kind of material Snyder was weaponizing against his enemies, what else might be out there?

And thus Snyder had officially overplayed his hand. And he was about to finally get at least a bit of what was coming to him.

Snyder’s suspension would continue indefinitely. The owners — and most importantly Jerry Jones — would line up in lockstep to force Snyder to sell the team, which as of late last May, he has agreed to do.

Meanwhile, Gruden’s lawsuit against the NFL persists, with him thus far refusing to ever settle. Some would probably say his forced resignation was a good place to start. But Snyder was always the big fish here.

Who knows, by the end of this thing, we could see a lot more people get their just desserts.

Report: Leaked Jon Gruden emails led to Dan Snyder’s demise in Washington

The Commanders will likely have a new owner next week.

[anyclip pubname=”2123″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8169″]

The Washington Commanders will have a new owner soon. Perhaps as soon as next week, when the NFL will hold a special meeting to vote on the sale of the Commanders from Daniel Snyder to a group led by Josh Harris for $6.05 billion.

According to a new report from Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham of ESPN, it was the leaked Jon Gruden emails that eventually led to the demise of Snyder as Washington’s owner.

While no one knows for sure who leaked Gruden’s offensive emails that eventually led him to resign as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, the leaks opened up more investigations into Snyder and the Commanders.

Earlier that year, Beth Wilkinson’s nearly yearlong investigation into the organization’s formerly toxic workplace culture had concluded. Snyder voluntarily stepped away from the team’s day-to-day business, inserting his wife Tanya into the co-CEO role, and the organization was fined $10 million.

As far as Snyder being removed as owner of the Commanders by fellow owners, that wasn’t on the table.

Then, the leaked emails occurred.

The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times each published stories containing emails from Gruden to former Washington team president Bruce Allen when Gruden was an employee at ESPN.

ESPN speculated the leaks could have come from NFL commissioner Roger Goodell or NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith, each of whom Gruden insulted in some of the emails. And then there was Snyder. In making Allen — who was fired at the conclusion of the 2019 season — look bad, the theory was Snyder had removed the organization’s biggest problem [Allen].

Lawyers close to the NFL and to Gruden said the choice to leak to the Times over The Washington Post, a newspaper Snyder hates, was a dead giveaway that Snyder and those around him were behind the leaks. Two sources told ESPN that the same “playbook” that was used in the A-Rod lawsuit against MLB was used to leak the emails published by the Times.

“The same crew that helped Alex [Rodriguez] go after [MLB commissioner Rob] Manfred helped Snyder with the leaks,” said another source who was briefed on how the Gruden leaks were engineered.

The original theory of Snyder leaking the emails came in the WSJ story when it was revealed Allen had called the league, upset about the leaking of his emails. Someone from the NFL office told Allen that Snyder’s team had leaked the emails. This is something Allen would later testify to before Congress during its investigation into Snyder and the team.

Regardless of who leaked the emails, it backfired. And that was the beginning of the end for Snyder’s 24-year reign as Washington’s owner.

While Snyder was not forced out as owner of the Commanders, Colts owner Jim Irsay spoke out against him multiple times in 2022, something unheard of in NFL circles. From that point forward, it was clear that Goodell and Snyder’s fellow owners wanted him gone.

Much more was included in the ESPN report.

Report: Sean Payton never paid fines for COVID-19 policy violations during 2020 season

ESPN reports Sean Payton never paid fines for violating the NFL’s COVID-19 policy in 2020, allegedly laughing at Jon Gruden for doing so:

[anyclip pubname=”2123″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8169″]

Former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton made a cameo in a dynamite report from ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham on the fall of longtime NFL personalities Jon Gruden (the ex-Las Vegas Raiders coach) and Dan Snyder (the soon-to-be former Washington Commanders owner). Payton has been close friends with Gruden for decades, dating back to their early careers together with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Back in the 2020 season at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, both Payton and Gruden were fined $100,000 for violating the league’s health and safety protocols after failing to properly cover their faces during a high-profile game at the Raiders’ Allegiant Stadium. But ESPN reports that only Gruden paid up.

“I never paid the fine,” ESPN quotes Payton as telling Gruden, “You’re the only dumbf— that paid the fine.”

ESPN adds that Payton claimed multiple other coaches declined to pay their fines; the NFL issued discipline to a group including Pete Carroll (Seattle Seahawks), Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers), and Vic Fangio (Denver Broncos), though it’s unclear who Payton was allegedly referring to.

Payton has a famously frosty relationship with the NFL head office in New York stemming from the 2012 Bountygate scandal, so it’s not too surprising that he would refuse to pay up if not forced to. The Saints were later docked a 2022 sixth-round draft pick for additional COVID-19 policy violations, being the only team in the league to do so (the Raiders also initially forfeited a draft pick, but won it back upon appeal). We’ll have to wait and see whether Payton’s acrimonious relationship with league commissioner Roger Goodell has followed him to Denver.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Carson Wentz ‘throwing and studying film’ with Jon Gruden, waiting for another opportunity

Training camp is only six weeks away. Will Wentz land a job before camp?

[connatix div_id=”3f8b015acdd24c648befc5d5dac47469″ player_id=”afe1e038-d3c2-49c0-922d-6511a229f69c” cid=”7cbcea0d-4ce2-4c75-9a8d-fbe02a192c24″]

Carson Wentz has kept a low profile since the Washington Commanders released him in March. Some believed Wentz’s NFL future could be in jeopardy, despite being only 30 years old.

Would a team want Wentz after playing on three teams over the last three seasons? Or would Wentz even want to be a backup?

Wentz answered those questions last month, saying he wanted to play in 2023 and was open to any role. Wentz was working out in Los Angeles and had reportedly received interest from NFL teams but wanted to wait until later in the offseason to see what developed.

This week, we learned what Wentz is doing in preparation for another opportunity. Per Adam Schefter of ESPN, Wentz is now in Florida, throwing and studying film with former Raiders head coach Jon Gruden.

Gruden resigned as head coach of the Raiders in Oct. 2021 after a series of racist and homophobic emails he sent former Washington general manager Bruce Allen were exposed. The emails were over a seven-year period while Gruden worked for ESPN.

As for Wentz, this is the second consecutive month his name is back in the media announcing his intentions to play. It sounds like Wentz does want to play, but has he really received genuine interest from a team? And in what role? Perhaps a team has reached out to Wentz to gauge his interest in a backup role, but he is still waiting for a chance to start.

Most teams have settled their quarterback situations ahead of training camp. However, some teams could still use a backup. If Wentz wants to play in 2023, that’s likely his best shot.

 

Former Raiders exec Amy Trask shares perceptive take on Saints-Jon Gruden visit

Former Raiders executive Amy Trask shared a perceptive take to news of the Saints hosting Jon Gruden for a consultant visit at their facility:

Well that’s interesting. Former Oakland Raiders chief executive officer Amy Trask had a low opinion of the New Orleans Saints’ decision to hire her old coworker Dennis Allen as head coach last year, and she doesn’t appear to be reconsidering her stance in the wake of Allen’s decision to bring in disgraced ex-Raiders coach Jon Gruden to visit the facility.

“Res Ipsa Loquitor (learned that in law school),” Trask wrote from her official Twitter account, “and before anyone replies ‘but, but, but,’ remember this: I worked with both men.”

It’s safe to say that Trask knows both Allen and Gruden well from their time together in the Raiders organization, or she at least believes she knows the content of their character. The Latin phrase she’s referencing means “the thing speaks for itself” and is a legal principle that says negligence may be inferred from the very nature of an accident in the absence of direct evidence.

So what did she mean by this? Trask disagreed with the Saints’ decision to promote Allen to head coach, and it appears she isn’t a fan of Allen’s decision to fly Gruden in for a consultation visit. But she wasn’t necessarily surprised Allen thought it would be a good idea: the act speaks for itself.

Allen has already defended his decision by saying he believed Gruden’s input could be valuable to the team, given his experience coaching Derek Carr before, and he isn’t worried about the pall that might be cast by linking the team to such a controversial figure. Gruden resigned after emails surfaced displaying flagrantly bigoted behavior. But if Gruden’s input can help the Saints win games, it’s a price Allen is willing to pay.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Dennis Allen comments on Jon Gruden visiting Saints practice

Dennis Allen comments on Jon Gruden visiting Saints practice, sharing input on coaching up Derek Carr:

This might have been blown out of proportion. The New Orleans Saints invited Jon Gruden to attend three days of practices last week to observe their offseason program and share input on how to best tool things to their new quarterback Derek Carr — who had some of his best seasons with Gruden calling plays for him on the Las Vegas Raiders.

Of course, Gruden’s tenure with the Raiders ended in scandal when a trove of racist, sexist, and homophobic emails surfaced and led to public outcry. When asked by ESPN’s Katherine Terrell about the decision to host Gruden at the team facility and link him to New Orleans, Saints head coach Dennis Allen was blunt in discussing his motivations behind that call.

“Look, I mean, number one, we’ve had several coaches come and visit (during minicamp),” Allen said, referencing visits from consultants like Mike Martz, Tom Coughlin, and the late Alex Gibbs over the years when Sean Payton was coaching the team. Gruden’s presence was hardly unprecedented.

Allen continued, “Obviously, Jon’s a guy that has a lot of experience with Derek and Derek has had his most success under Jon Gruden. And so we felt like bringing him in, having a chance to sit down and with him as an offensive staff, with the quarterbacks and just getting some new thoughts and ideas of things we might be able to implement. … But if there’s a few ideas that we could take from that, we felt like that would be beneficial.”

So Gruden isn’t on payroll, and he certainly isn’t getting an email address on the Saints’ server. From Allen’s perspective, this was an easy decision to make. Bringing in someone who knows Carr’s strengths and weaknesses as well as Gruden does makes a lot of sense, and it could pay off in the fall if the Saints are able to better acclimate Carr to the offense they have now.

Frankly, Allen isn’t in position to be picky. He’s on the hot seat after the Saints stumbled into a 4-9 deficit last season and clawed their way back to a 7-10 finish, with his mismanagement in Week 18’s loss to the Carolina Panthers costing another win. The sooner Carr has the offense humming, the safer Allen’s job will be. If that means bringing in someone with controversy surrounding them like Gruden, that’s what he’ll do. We’ll see how it works out for him.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Saints bring in Jon Gruden to help mold offense around Derek Carr

The Saints brought in Jon Gruden to help mold their offense around Derek Carr, via @southexclusives:

[anyclip pubname=”2103″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8036″]

New Orleans Saints coach Dennis Allen was a big reason people linked quarterback Derek Carr to the Saints after his release from the Las Vegas Raiders. Allen drafted Carr in 2014 during his first head coaching stint. One of the reasons the Saints might have been the best location for Carr is his familiarity with the offensive system. This system is most similar to the one Carr ran between 2018 and the beginning of the 2021 season with Jon Gruden.

Gruden’s tenure with the team was abruptly cut short after emails of his were leaked to the public. Those email contained anti-gay and racist remarks. That was week 5 of the 2021 season and the last time the football world had heard of Gruden, until now. The Saints made the questionable decision to invite Gruden to the facility to help mold the offense around Carr. Is this a baby step for Gruden easing back into the NFL? Only time will tell. 

Gruden was brought in because Carr has previously stated he feels his best work came when paired with Gruden. It’s easy to see why he would feel that way. Between 2018 to 2020, Carr’s passing yards and touchdowns increased each season. His completion percentage and passer rating in those years were also some of the best in his career.

Carr’s past experience makes switching teams “not as big of a curve as it could be in a different system or a different offense.” The majority of learning for Carr will be understanding the slight differences between the systems and getting adjusted to new teammates. Though the system he’ll be in may feel familiar, it isn’t a carbon copy. There will still be some concepts that are new to him and slight terminology differences he will need to adjust to. He’s also been studying and working with his teammates to better understand how they can maximize their connection.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Jon Gruden is back in the NFL… well, sort of.

Jon Gruden, who resigned from the Raiders after his sexist, racist, and homophobic e-mails were made public, is back in the NFL. Sort of.

Former Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach and ESPN broadcaster Jon Gruden, who has been persona non grata in the league since his resignation from the Raiders in October, 2021, is back in the NFL… to a point, as a consultant for the New Orleans Saints, as the Saints try to extract the most from new quarterback Derek Carr. The Saints signed Carr to a four-year, $150 million contract with $100 million guaranteed as they attempt to get the game’s most important position back on track — something the franchise hasn’t enjoyed since Drew Brees’ salad days.

In this process, the Saints are availing themselves of all possible options, including Gruden’s insight.

From Nola.com’s Jeff Duncan:

Carr worked primarily out of West Coast offenses in Las Vegas. Head coaches Jon Gruden and Josh McDaniels ran similar offensive systems to the one the Saints have employed since Sean Payton initially implemented the scheme in 2006. In fact, Payton’s offense was heavily influenced by Gruden from their time together on the Philadelphia Eagles staff in 1997.

To facilitate the transition, the Saints signed two of Carr’s old Raiders targets in free agency: wide receiver Bryan Edwards and tight end Foster Moreau. The club also brought in Gruden this week to pick his brain about the offensive transition. The longtime head coach spent much of his time at the Saints facility with Carr and the offensive coaching staff as they orchestrated the early stages of the offensive installation.

Gruden has a unique familiarity with Carr and the Saints’ offensive scheme so the move to bring him to campus makes sense. Statistically, Carr enjoyed the best years of his career in his three-plus seasons under Gruden from 2018 to 2021.

Of course, there’s what happened in 2021 that pushed things off the ledge for the Raiders, and for Carr himself. Gruden resigned from the team after reports from the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal disclosed e-mails in which Gruden used words and terms that were racist, sexist, and homophobic.

Jon Gruden resigns as Raiders’ head coach amidst massive controversies

It’s highly unlikely that any team would accept Gruden as a head coach or assistant coach with all that attendant baggage, but the Saints seemed to see value in his consultancy.