Friend or Foe? Will Jerry Jones Support Commanders Owner Dan Snyder?

The Washington Commanders owner could be forced to sell the franchise.

Time is ticking for Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder, and the rest of his NFL owner fraternity could be racking up the numbers to vote him off the island.

Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

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But Snyder may have an ally in one of his biggest rivals ... Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.

Jones is, among many other positive things, a "loyalty guy.'' That's true in his personal life and it is true in his NFL ownership life, where he long ago mentored a young Washington owner named Dan Snyder.

But how far does friendship, mentorship and loyalty go? How is it impacted when where your buddy "goes'' is ... your wallet?

Snyder, you see, may have just crossed the line.

NFL owners like to count their money. That includes Jones, who recently expressed with pride the idea that his Dallas Cowboys are now worth "$10 billion.''

And now those money-counting billionaires are reportedly “counting votes” - toward the ouster of the Washington Commanders owner.

Snyder finds himself embroiled in yet another scandal, but this one is about his owners/partners’ money. He is the subject of a Federal Trade Commission and Virginia attorney general investigation into potentially fraudulent bookkeeping - an alleged act that impacts the revenue.

And so …

"We are counting votes," one team owner told Jarrett Bell of USA Today, implying that the owners are considering an ouster of Snyder, which would require 24 votes to force a sale of the organization.

Snyder has owned the Washington franchise through 23 years, three name changes, and not enough wins. He is presently supposed to be in the midst of a “punishment” that supposedly reduces his role to “part-timer” while his wife Tanya oversees day-to-day operations, all a result of an independent investigation into the franchise’s toxic workplace culture.

If you believe that Mr. Snyder is somehow not involved, ask yourself why he was front-and-center at the franchise's re-christening. You think he was just there so the "real owner'' Tanya could gift him a nifty "Commanders'' letterman's jacket?

The Beth Wilkerson’s 10-month investigation resulting in a $10 million fine? It accomplished nothing. Snyder’s reaction to the sex-harassment allegations recently levied against him by former team employee Tiffani Johnson before a congressional committee was to announced that there will be another investigation. And that he - Snyder - would oversee it.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell shut down that idea.

"We’ll do an investigation,'' Goodell said of the NFL. "I do not see any way a team can do its own investigation of itself. That’s something we would do and we would do with an outside expert that would help us come to the conclusion of what the facts were, what truly happened, so we can make the right decision from there.

"We’ll treat that seriously.''

But maybe not as seriously as this latest alleged crime is being taken.

Snyder already stands accused of an illicit charade and then a devious cover-up. But this supposed “vote” - reportedly requiring 24 of the other 31 owners to agree - isn’t a league decision. It’s a business partners’ decision.

Our educated guess is that Snyder's very first phone call in an attempt to rally "voters'' support went to Jones. Further, our next guess is that Jones - who sources tell us recently worked behind the scenes to protect Rams owner Stan Kroenke during his Los Angeles-vs.-St. Louis financial kerfuffle - generously took the call ...

While contemplating just what it is Snyder allegedly "took'' from him.