News broke late Friday that Daniel Snyder had agreed to Josh Harris’ bid to buy the Commanders, so Monday morning was the first chance much of the DC radio scene got to react to the news.
Our man on the spot, Rick Snider, filed a column the subject this Monday (Preakness picks, which he spoiled on Monday, coming later in the week as well), but he joined the Sports Junkies on Monday morning to reveal how time was not on his side when it came to the news.
“I literally walked 10 miles with a school group on a tour Friday, got home and sat down for 30 seconds, and boom, the team sold,” Snider laughed. “Nothing of this has really been surprising, though. In January, I said the team would sell in May and be approved in June; it’s had its twists and turns and crazy people that showed up, but it’s gone to form.”
Snider thinks Snyder (heh) got the ‘best bidder,’ as the process had ‘one legit good bid, one decent side bid, and the rest was smoke and mirrors’ – but don’t get your hopes up on an immediate stadium move, because it might be at least 2027 before new digs open in the most optimistic timeline.
“I think people are a little worried about cash and how he’s going to come up with a stadium – but it’s going to be a while before we get to that,” Snider said. “You’re talking to all three entities again (DC, Maryland, and Virginia). Magic Johnson opens a lot of doors, and the team realizes that if we can do this in the right way, it will still be a win. I still think DC has the best chance because it has the most interest, but they have to get that land from the federal government. Could they move to Virginia, or Oxon Cove and create that entertainment district? That’s a possibility, but I think Virginia’s chances increase and Maryland’s decrease. Still, it’s going to take time to hammer out the best deal, and Harris might need all the public money he could get.”
And as for reaction to the reports about the complexities in the finances of the Harris group being a problem? More like a smokescreen, Snider said when EB asked.
“You have learned how to get through the BS,” Snider said. “When you saw the Mary Jo White thing, and he couldn’t get that done, that’s when they tightened the grip on him to finally finish this off. It was all about using that leverage to beat him down and say, ‘we’re doing this or we’re releasing that report.’ This was always their ace in the hole.”
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Snider also thinks the new ownership will ‘jump attendance maybe 10,000’ for Week 1, in part because ‘there won’t be any Cardinals fans there,’ but they got a good matchup for it.
“It’s one of the weakest opponents you’ll face and there will be a lot of local momentum,” Snider said. “It’s not Super Bowl days, but it’s proactive fans.”
So, then, what will Josh Harris’ first move be?
“Dan Snyder’s first move was firing Charley Casserly, and that was probably his second-worst move, so I don’t know if they’ll make a football change – business, maybe, but the NFL might ask if they can be stable for five minutes,” Snyder said. “But you’re definitely making a lot of front offices moves; you don’t spend $6 billion and sit on a team that had underperformed.
Snider also discussed his thoughts on the schedule overall, which he wrote about last week following the release, as well as his outlook for Sam Howell and the idea of Jason Wright moving into a personnel role – take a listen above!
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