Report: NFL owners don’t have votes to remove Dan Snyder; Jeff Bezos could finally bid after signing confidentiality agreement

Washington Commanders sale updates

NFL owners met earlier this week in West Palm Beach, Fla., for committee meetings, and the sale of the Washington Commanders was discussed. It was reported that no decisions were made about holding a vote to remove Snyder from the NFL’s owners club, as the sale was seemingly dragging on.

The New York Post is now reporting that NFL owners don’t have the required 24 votes needed to remove Snyder. This move always seemed unlikely and one source described why owners are hesitant to make that unprecedented move now:

“This is the boy’s club of boy’s clubs,” another source close to an NFL owner said, adding he is not surprised that at least a quarter of the owners would not vote to oust Snyder.

“They want a higher bar so there is no precedent for them” to be forced to sell their own teams, the source speculated.

The sale is still proceeding and the New York Post also mentioned that Amazon founder Jeff Bezos could finally be entering the bidding.

Meanwhile, Snyder nemesis Jeff Bezos recently signed a confidentiality agreement, signaling he may finally be allowed to enter the bidding process, sources close to Bezos told The Post. It was not clear whether Bezos inked the confidentiality pact with Snyder or the NFL.

Dan Snyder has reportedly been blocking Bezos from bidding and getting access to the team’s finances due to his ownership of the Washington Post and their investigations into the team and Snyder. Bezos is the wealthiest bidder who has been linked to the sale, and could easily give Snyder the $6 billion he is reportedly seeking for the franchise.

The other two known bidders are Tillman Fertitta who reportedly placed a bid of more of than $5.5 billion. Josh Harris has added Washington D.C. billionaire Mitchell Rales to his ownership group, and has been seen by many as the frontrunner to buy the team if Bezos doesn’t get involved. ESPN’s John Keim has mentioned that there are actually four groups involved in the bidding, but the other two groups have not been identified. The New York Post says that both Fertitta and Harris think Snyder’s $6 billion price tag is “astronomical”.

This was the latest from the Washington Post on Snyder’s communications with the other NFL owners:

Snyder and the Commanders have communicated to the NFL’s team owners that there are “multiple bidders” for the franchise whom the owners and the league will “love” and that the sales price “is looking good,” a person familiar with the NFL’s inner workings and the views of the owners said this week. But some owners remain wary that the sale will be completed because Snyder wants to be indemnified against future legal liability and costs by either the buyer or fellow NFL team owners and the league, that person said.

Charles Gasparino has been keeping his name in Commanders sale news recently, and says he talks to people who know things. He was on Grant and Danny and said one of his sources told him “Bids final the next week or two.”

He also mentioned that one potential bidder has removed themselves from consideration.

The NFL owners will meet again at the end of the month and there have been reports that they want the bidding wrapped up by then. That might happen if Snyder gets the offer he wants and is ready to move on, but there are no guarantees this gets wrapped up that easily. Snyder is reportedly seeking indemnification from the other NFL owners for potential future lawsuits, something they are not willing to give him.