Legal issues between the NFL and Daniel Snyder’s representatives could delay the sale of the Commanders, according to The Washington Post. The Washington franchise announced in May that Snyder and his wife, Tanya, had agreed to sell the team to 76ers and Devils co-owner Josh Harris for a reported $6.05 billion.
The delay is related to at least in part to legal issues regarding the leaking of emails that led to the October 2021 resignation of former Raiders coach Jon Gruden. One source told The Post that the situation was as “significant” and “not just some small snag.”
“Hopefully it gets resolved,” that person said. “But at this point, it’s serious.”
Gruden resigned almost two years ago after both The New York Times and Wall Street Journal published emails between him and Washington’s former team president Bruce Allen. The emails were sent over the course of seven years while Gruden was working at ESPN and showed Gruden used misogynistic, racist and anti-LGBTQ language. The NFL had obtained these emails while investigating the Commanders for a toxic work environment.
Gruden is currently in the midst of a lawsuit where he says the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell leaked his emails to sabotage his career. The NFL has denied the leak as have the Commanders.
NFL owners are expected to ratify Harris’s deal to buy the team from Snyder at a special league meeting in Minneapolis on July 20 and it’s unclear at this time whether these legal issues will delay the sale.
