Report: Commanders' Sale to Josh Harris Unofficially Approved by NFL Committee

The NFL reportedly took an unofficial step toward completing the sale of the Washington Commanders.

According to Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post, the NFL finance committee unofficially approved Josh Harris' $6.05 billion purchase of the team from Daniel Snyder on Monday. It was unofficial because all eight members did not participate in the remote meeting.

One source said it was more of a "straw poll" that indicated unanimous support.

The official vote is expected to happen Thursday morning before the owners' meeting. Maske and Jhabvala explained the owners typically follow the committee's recommendation, meaning the sale would likely reach the threshold of at least 24 of the 32 owners offering their approval.

As a result, the sale could close as early as Friday.

Perhaps most notably, the report also indicated the NFL and Snyder have agreed to resolve legal issues that could have impacted the closing of the deal.

That development comes after Maske and Jhabvala cited a source Thursday who said the legal complications were "significant" and could delay the closing of the deal. Yet that person also suggested Snyder's attorneys may have been attempting to use the legal issues as leverage in an effort to "extract last-minute concessions from the NFL on legal indemnification related to [Jon] Gruden's lawsuit."

Gruden, who resigned as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 after emails he sent with racist, anti-gay and misogynistic language were published, filed a lawsuit against the NFL and Roger Goodell in November of that year that alleged the league and commissioner attempted to ruin his career by leaking the emails.

In April, The Athletic's Daniel Kaplan and Ben Standig reported Harris' proposed purchase of the Commanders featured language that would "partly indemnify" Snyder from future litigation related to the "many pending investigations" regarding the organization.

While that was between Harris' group and Snyder, the report noted the latter also wanted such indemnification from the NFL.

Maske and Jhabvala's Thursday report noted that "while Snyder is not seeking for the league and the other owners to indemnify him against future legal liability, the complications relate to the willingness of Snyder and his family to indemnify the league and owners against liability related to the Gruden case. Snyder's attorneys are arguing that Snyder should not be responsible for any legal liability stemming from the actions of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and league attorney Jeff Pash."

Yet the latest report suggests there is an agreement to resolve all these outstanding issues.

If that results in the sale closing Friday, it could clear the way for former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Mary Jo White to release the findings of an ongoing investigation into Snyder and the Commanders.

A previous investigation into the organization's toxic culture during Snyder's tenure that was conducted by attorney Beth Wilkinson resulted in the NFL fining the Commanders $10 million and Snyder giving up day-to-day duties to his wife and co-CEO Tanya Snyder.