MMQB: NFL May Change Rules for Purchasing Teams After Commanders' Sale to Josh Harris

Josh Harris' purchase of the Washington Commanders may be the last deal of its kind in the NFL.

The league's finance committee met last Wednesday, and while it did discuss the $6.05 billion deal that Harris' ownership group made with Dan Snyder, it did not vote on the structure of the purchase, according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.

That means there are likely to be a few more twists and turns before Harris takes over the organization. Namely, the league owners may not vote Harris through next week, as the buying group needs to be approved by the finance committee first.

Breer reported that it's still unclear whether Harris' group has even made its pitch to the committee yet. That all needs to be sorted out before the rest of the league votes on it, which is expected to easily go through.

But there are even bigger long-term implications for what this purchase could mean not only for the current state of the league, but for any other potential future owners.

NFL rules state that any new primary owner needs to be able to pay cash for at least 30 percent of the team. As of right now, nobody in Harris' group has that kind of money on hand.

"There have been rumblings that Harris's group may be taking on more than the allowable amount of debt to purchase the team," according to Breer.

This sale could convince the NFL to change its purchase rules. Its pool of potential buyers has shrunk with valuations of these franchises reaching astronomical prices.

If Harris eventually gets through this process—as Breer seems to expect— improvements to the system may be imminent.