It’s looking more and more like the Washington Commanders will be under new leadership here soon. At the same time that the annual NFL meetings were taking place in Arizona, reports broke that Josh Harris’ group has put in a bid of $6 billion bid to buy the team from embattled owner Daniel Snyder.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was on hand in Arizona for the meetings and addressed the ongoing investigation into Snyder and the Commanders with reporters. Said investigation includes allegations into workplace misconduct and financial wrongdoings on the part of the NFL organization.
Back in February of last year, Goodell indicated that the league would release the findings of this investigation to the public. Now with Snyder likely set to sale the team soon, there’s been a question about whether the findings would be made public. Goodell cleared that up some on Tuesday.
“We committed to releasing those findings, we will. We made that commitment back last February. We made that commitment. I think we made it in front of Congress, we made it to our clubs. So, we’ll continue with that.”
Roger Goodell on Washington Commanders investigation
It seems as if nothing good could come from releasing the findings. At the very least, from the perspective of the NFL and the Commanders themselves. Heck, a potential new ownership group would then have to answer to issues with the organization before it was in control.
Related: Washington Commanders free agency approach impacted by likely sale
Even then, full disclosure needs to be the name of the game for the NFL as it relates to this. Congress had gotten involved last year, pretty much concluding that the league played a role in the misdoings in Virginia. Whether an investigation being headed by the hand-picked Mary Jo White would change the public perception remains to be seen.
There’s also some train of thought out there concluding that the NFL’s report on the Washington Commanders could change if Snyder himself opts against selling the organization.
Right now, there’s been an internal push from owners to force Daniel Snyder out should he have a change of heart. If he delays the timeline to sell the Commanders and the report is released, this push could intensify.