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Commissioner Roger Goodell said before the start of the NFL Draft that “progress is being made” in the Washington Commanders sale. Team president Jason Wright said, “We are almost to the end of it.”
In any event, all signs point to the 2023 NFL Draft being the last with Dan Snyder as owner of the franchise — and Snyder, normally among the most hands-on owners over the last two decades, wasn’t involved much, if at all, in the team’s selections.
Josh Harris’ tentative agreement to purchase the Commanders for $6.05 billion is currently being vetted by the NFL, a practice typically done after the official announcement and new ownership’s submission of its application to the league office.
Sources told Front Office Sports that Harris’ bid is being treated as if the sale agreement were final.
When a new ownership agreement is submitted, league staffers — sometimes with the help of an outside firm — conduct financial and criminal background checks of the would-be controlling owner and any limited partners.
Billionaire industrial firm co-founder Mitchell Rales, Magic Johnson, and security firm exec Mark Ein are among the limited partners in Harris’ group, and sources told FOS previously that there will likely be at least nine others.
According to sources, the review is expected to conclude ahead of a regularly scheduled meeting of the NFL finance committee on May 10. Minus any setbacks, a full ownership vote could be scheduled at that time for the next NFL owners meeting in Minnesota on May 22.
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