Dan Snyder has told associates close to him that he has gathered enough information to "blow up" several other NFL owners and even the league's commissioner Roger Goodell, according to a lengthy report from ESPN.
"They can't f--- with me," Snyder has said privately, according to the article from ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham, and Tisha Thompson.
The story is a look into attempting to answer why and how Snyder has survived despite the numerous scandals surrounding the Washington organization under his ownership, including a toxic workplace culture, allegations of sexual harassment, a Congressional investigation, a DEA raid, a crumbling stadium, and a failure to get a new stadium built.
The story notes Snyder told associates he wouldn't lose the team without taking others down, recently telling an associate: "The NFL is a mafia," and "All the owners hate each other."
"That's not true," a veteran owner told ESPN. "All the owners hate Dan."
The story, based upon interviews with more than 30 owners, league and team executives, lawyers, and current and former Commanders team employees, paints a picture that Snyder is prepared to fight the league completely if there is any attempt to remove him from ownership.
In response to the story, a team spokesperson issued this statement: "It’s hard to imagine a piece that is more categorically untrue, and is clearly part of a well-funded, two-year misinformation campaign to coerce the sale of the team, which will continue to be unsuccessful."
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"Multiple owners and league and team sources say they've been told that Snyder instructed his law firms to hire private investigators to look into other owners -- and Goodell," according to ESPN.
And "one NFL owner was told by Snyder directly that he 'has dirt on Jerry Jones,'" according to a source and "Snyder has told a confidant that he has "a file" on Jones."
A team spokesperson denied Snyder has ever made some of those claims. And a Commander's spokesperson and the outside lawyers Snyder hired denied private investigators were tracking other team owners and league executives. "This is categorically false," John Brownlee and Stuart Nash told ESPN. "He has no 'dossiers' compiled on any owners."
A former longtime senior Washington executive told EPSN, Snyder "thinks he has enough on all of them" and He thinks he's got stuff on Roger." Another former team executive routinely called Snyder "the most powerful owner in the NFL" because of what he knows.
Jones and Snyder have always appeared to have a very chummy relationship, but that friendship may be cracking. ESPN reports Jones recently told confidants he "might not be able" to protect Snyder any longer, while Snyder has badmouthed Jones to others and there's the possibility "Snyder's already lost Jerry."
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While the article paints Snyder as unpopular, including because the other owners see his franchise as underperforming and costing them money, removal still seems unlikely. Getting the 24 votes to remove Snyder seems unlikely because Snyder may not accept the results.
One other option would be to deny Snyder access to a $200 million NFL loan to build a new stadium. "The league's only real tool is to starve him from the funds to build a stadium," a team president told ESPN.
Another option would be to convince Snyder to hand over permanent control of the franchise to his wife and co-owner Tanya Snyder. However, that may not work well, either. Snyder was not suspended by the league following the Beth Wilkinson investigation but stepped away from the day-to-day operations to allow Tanya Snyder to be the face of the franchise at league meetings.
However, Dan Snyder was still a presence throughout his time away, including, pushing to trade for Carson Wentz, as he told an associate last winter, "All my problems will be solved if I can just get a marquee quarterback."
A statement to ESPN, head coach Ron Rivera insisted he brought the idea of trading for Wentz to Dan and Tanya, but a source with knowledge of the inner workings of the deal told ESPN "It was 100% a Dan move."
Read the complete report from ESPN here.
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