Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder was not in attendance in lower Manhattan on Tuesday, but he wasn’t exactly out of mind at the NFL’s annual fall meeting.
Days after an ESPN report cited a claim from the owner that he has “dirt” on several NFL owners, Snyder’s status was not on the agenda at the meetings. But an NFL source confirmed to Field Level Media that a “closed session” to end the meeting was expected to include open dialogue about several matters related to the owner of the Washington franchise.
Also surfacing Tuesday was a letter Snyder sent to every NFL owner, claiming ESPN’s assertion to be “patently false.”
While Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he still supported Snyder, Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay said he believes there is “merit” for owners to remove Snyder as Commanders owner.
“He can investigate me till the cows come home, it’s not going to back me off,” the notoriously rebellious Irsay said Tuesday.
No NFL owner has been voted out of the league, but there are parameters in place for removal if 24 fellow owners cast votes supporting the action.
Irsay told reporters he believes there “potentially” could be 24 votes in place to remove Snyder.
Snyder’s wife, Tanya, represented the team in New York and has been in charge of day-to-day operations since investigator Beth Wilkinson began working on reviewing claims of a toxic workplace culture. Wilkinson’s report from 2021 has not been fully released.
Dan Snyder has been at the center of multiple controversies and is not permitted to represent the Commanders until a face-to-face meeting with Goodell takes place. Goodell met with reporters later Tuesday and said Snyder’s status “hasn’t changed.”
Earlier this year, the NFL hired former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White to conduct an investigation into allegations of both sexual misconduct and financial improprieties related to team business. Goodell stressed that that investigation is still ongoing.
“We had a brief report on a couple of matters, including an update on the Washington investigation,” Goodell said. “It’s an ongoing investigation … When Mary Jo White is done with her investigation, we will share that with the membership and share it publicly as we committed to before. I was very clear with (owners), there’s no reason for any speculation at this point in time or discussion until we have the facts.”
Asked if he was surprised or disappointed that Irsay spoke out Tuesday, Goodell said, “No.”
“It is highly inappropriate, but not surprising, that Mr. Irsay opted to make statements publicly based on falsehoods in the media,” a Commanders spokesperson said in a statement provided to several outlets. “It is unfortunate that Mr. Irsay decided to go public with his statement today, while an investigation is in process, and the team has had no opportunity to formally respond to allegations. The Commanders have made remarkable progress over the past two years. We are confident that, when he has an opportunity to see the actual evidence in this case, Mr. Irsay will conclude that there is no reason for the Snyders to consider selling the franchise. And they won’t.”
In the ESPN report, a former employee of the Washington franchise alleged Snyder compiled “dossiers” on NFL owners using private investigators. His attorneys, John Brownlee and Stuart Nash, partners at Holland & Knight, called the claims “categorically untrue.”
In Snyder’s letter to the owners, he wrote there was one “allegation” he felt was “important to address immediately” — that he’d “instructed his law firms to hire private investigators to look into other owners” and Goodell.
“That is patently false and intended to erode the trust and goodwill between the owners that I take quite seriously,” Snyder wrote, in part.
Dan Snyder sent this letter to his fellow NFL owners today: pic.twitter.com/HxrM5KOte0
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) October 18, 2022
Also absent Tuesday was Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who is not allowed to attend a league meeting until March 2023 under the terms of his suspension for tampering violations involving Tom Brady and Sean Payton. Ross’ access to the team facility was reinstated on Monday.
–The meeting reportedly got heated during discussions of starting talks with Goodell about a contract extension. ESPN reported that the resolution passed 31-1, with the lone dissenting vote coming from Jones, who was vocal in his opposition.
Per ESPN, Jones told Kraft, a noted Goodell backer, “Don’t f– with me.”
Kraft responded, “Excuse me?”
Jones then said, “Don’t mess with me.”
ESPN added that the NFL, the Cowboys and the Patriots declined comment on the report.
–Discussions around controversial penalties for roughing the passer were plentiful at the fall meeting.
But the league won’t make any changes to the rules in the wake of rising attention.
NFL executive vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said the topic brought a “healthy, lively” conversation among owners. Rules application and changes fall under the umbrella of the competition committee, which did not meet Tuesday.
Vincent said the purpose of the enforcement of roughing the passer is to be “safer” and not “softer,” as some fans — and even broadcaster Troy Aikman — have insinuated.
No changes to the rules have been suggested by the committee and, at this time, the chair of the committee said roughing penalties are down appreciably. Rich McKay, president and CEO of the Atlanta Falcons, said only 38 flags for roughing the quarterback have been thrown to date this season as compared to 52 last season and 43 in 2020 through six weeks.
“Everyone knows if your quarterback is not healthy, you don’t have a chance to win,” Vincent said. “We’re not changing the philosophy around that call. … We’re not going to back off of protecting the quarterback.”
Aikman called out officials and suggested “we all take the dresses off” while analyzing a play during “Monday Night Football” that ended with a flag for roughing on Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones. Jones planted Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr on what appeared to be a run-of-the-mill sack. Jones’ play came in Week 6, which was also marred by a roughing penalty on Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett on a takedown of Tom Brady.
“Look at roughing the passer as a league, like they did pass interference a couple years ago, where we can review pass interference, I think that’s the next step we have to take in the league for all these roughing the passers,” Jones said after the Week 6 game.
McKay said Tuesday the competition committee does plan to discuss the calls and concern that there is a cloak of protection for quarterbacks that doesn’t exist for other players in the NFL. However, he said he is against making “subjective fouls” reviewable after what he classified as a failed experiment with pass interference.
–Super Bowl LVII in Glendale, Ariz., will be played Feb. 12, 2023, and the league advanced plans for the event to return to all “pre-COVID structure,” according to Peter O’Reilly, NFL Executive Vice President of Club Business.
O’Reilly said at the meetings Tuesday that the pre-pandemic staples such as Opening Night media sessions and Goodell’s “State of the NFL” address would return.
–Field Level Media
