Delay in the Desert: Dan Snyder Won't Be Ousted from Commanders at NFL Owners Meeting

The owners, gathered here in Phoenix, would prefer that the Commanders problem, and the Snyders, would simply go away quietly, but quickly ... thus the delay in the desert.

PHOENIX - NFL owners have descended on Arizona for their annual spring meetings, and while the movement to force Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder to relinquish his involvement, that movement is not an official agenda item.

So ... a lot of talk in the next couple of days.

But maybe not a lot of action.

The reasoning is understandable: As Snyder's wife Tanya is scheduled to be here to represent the franchise, the Snyders' fellow owners would like this gigantic blemish to simply erase itself in the form of a Snyder sale of the club.

There are multiple reports that a sale of the team is imminent, and the owners obviously hope that is the case. But - and Snyder watchers should not be surprised by this - there is another angle being played.

According to the Washington Post, Snyder wants the league to provide him with "indemnity,'' a way for him to be protected from liabilities (and blame?) resulting from his supervision of the Commanders.“

"Protection'' from financial liabilities? Legal ones? Accusations of behavioral and financial misdeeds?

Yes. All of that.

"The vote-out will happen if he insists on being indemnified,” a source told The Post. “If the deal (is to sell), that’s fine. But if he expects special treatment, that leads to trouble.''

It would take 24 votes to remove Snyder from his post, but no matter how many of his colleagues vote whichever way, that makes for a messy scene.

The owners would prefer that the problem, and the Snyders, would simply go away quietly, but quickly ... thus the delay in the desert.

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