The NFL and its pariah

NFL team owners gathered in New York for a meeting on Tuesday. According to New York Timeshowever, one of them was conspicuous by his absence, the controversial Daniel Snyder, owner of the Washington Commanders.

Miguel Bujold
The Press

As has often been the case since Snyder bought the team in 1999, the Commanders (formerly the Redskins) have been in the news for all the wrong reasons for the past few years. The NFL is also awaiting the conclusion of an investigation it has initiated and which is being led by Mary Joe White before publicly commenting on the situation of the Commanders.

A lawyer who notably served in the Obama administration, White is investigating the franchise after numerous allegations of a toxic work environment emerged. Snyder was reportedly charged with sexual assault in 2009, and that’s what convinced the NFL to hold this investigation.

In addition to being accused of fostering a toxic work environment, the Commanders are also suspected of having committed financial crimes. They would have kept sums which would normally have been paid to the visiting teams.

This is the second NFL investigation into the Commanders. It was during the first that the League had found, among other things, unsightly emails sent by ousted head coach Jon Gruden, who was then communicating with the club’s former general manager Bruce Allen. Even the US Congress took an interest in the Commanders’ case, but ultimately chose not to meet with Snyder.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Commissioner Roger Goodell asked the owners to refrain from commenting about Snyder and the Commanders until the investigation is concluded, but Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay had already done it a few hours earlier…

Irsay basically said that the League and the owners couldn’t at some point do anything but force Snyder to sell his franchise. The NFL could theoretically do so if 75% of owners (24 out of 32) voted in favor of such a decision.

The Commanders (even Snyder…) said they weren’t surprised by Irsay’s comments, but that they had no merit. At the end of the same press release, the Commanders (Snyder…) indicated that Snyder would never sell the team.

Last week, ESPN reported that Snyder believed he had ammunition to protect against the NFL through private investigators he allegedly hired to find dirt on other team owners and Goodell. Information that would allow him to blackmail and thus avoid being forced to get rid of his club.

Snyder denied the reports reported by ESPN and would consider suing the outlet.

In short, it does not smell too good, what is happening on the side of Washington, and it does not date from yesterday. If White’s investigation were to confirm that all of these allegations are true, it would become extremely difficult for the NFL to keep Snyder in its ranks.

Snyder has no intention of parting with the team he watched win championships as a child, however, and it seems pretty clear that this story will end in court. And it’s equally clear that Snyder is now an NFL pariah. A new Al Davis, without the style and the know-how.

Row between Jones and Kraft

Snyder and the Commanders was the most talked about case this week, but it wasn’t even one of the topics of the day at the owners’ meeting.

The teams notably agreed to pay 790 million to the City of St. Louis as a penalty for moving the Rams to Los Angeles. Rams owner Stan Kroenke will pay approximately 75% of that sum plus interest, while the other 31 teams will pay 25% of the total.

It has also been learned that there will be a game featured on the Friday of USA Thanksgiving weekend beginning in 2023. This Friday is the infamous ‘Black Friday’ and it’s Amazon (Prime Video ) who will broadcast the game, a natural partnership it goes without saying. The company will pay 50 million per year in order to have the rights to broadcast this game.

There was also talk of Goodell’s salary, which would be 63.9 million this year… In all, 31 of the 32 owners would have voted in favor of renewing the commissioner’s contract. Jerry Jones would rather like Goodell’s salary to be tied to performance goals. More bonuses, less guaranteed money, like a player contract, finally.

A spat would have followed between the owner of the Cowboys and that of the Patriots, Robert Kraft. According to ESPN, Jones threw a “don’t f*** with me” at Kraft. When the latter would have asked him to repeat, Jones would have changed the verb: “don’t mess with me” (do not joke with me, in a more polite way).

Two octogenarians quarreling over the structure of their commissioner’s $64 million annual salary. Life is hard, my dear friends. Luckily the product is good…

Three games to watch

Indianapolis at Tennessee, Sunday 1 p.m.

Despite injuries to key players including rusher Jonathan Taylor and linebacker Shaquille (formerly Darius) Leonard, the Colts have a winning record (3-2-1) and will overtake the Titans (3-2) at the top of their division. if they win in Nashville. The most surprising side of the Colts since the start of the season is the performance of their offensive line. One of the best in years, the unit has already given up 21 sacks. As for the Titans, who return from their spring break, they will depend on Derrick Henry more than ever in the coming months. The departure of the excellent AJ Brown weakened their aerial game while Ryan Tannehill gets only 193 yards per game. He had won 220 per game in 2021 and 239 in 2022.

Kansas City at San Francisco, Sunday 4:25 p.m.

This is the most promising match of a week that lacks relief. It’s also the first meeting between the Niners and the Chiefs since the Super Bowl three years ago. Again this year, the 49ers are hit hard with injuries. Emmanuel Moseley, Azeez-Shaair and Javon Kinlaw are all on the minimum four-game injured list, and at the time of this writing, six other defense starters were questionable cases for Sunday (Nick Bosa, Arik Armstead , Charvarius Ward, Talanoa Hufanga, Jimmie Ward and Samson Ebukam). The Chiefs restructured Travis Kelce’s contract this week to free up space under the salary cap. Odell Beckham Jr. The Bills, Packers and Rams would also all have him in their sights.

Pittsburgh at Miami, Sunday 8:20 p.m.

Tua Tagovailoa has recovered from his concussion and will return to action. The Dolphins have lost their last three games after winning their first three. The return of the left-hander, who has the best efficiency coefficient (109.9) in the NFL, therefore comes at the right time. It will be a return to Miami for two members of the Steelers, assistant coach Brian Flores and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. Flores was fired by the Dolphins in January while Fitzpatrick was traded to Pittsburgh for a 2019 first-round pick. Pickett (concussion) who is expected to face the Dolphins.