Josh Harris apparently is in the right place at the perfect time.
With the NFL determined to move on from Commanders owner Daniel Snyder, it appears that the owners might be willing to look beyond certain defects in the Harris offer to buy the team, in order to simply get rid of Snyder.
The Washington Post shares this opinion from an unnamed person familiar with the sale process (yes, that’s rather broad and vague): “if not for the other owners’ strong desire to remove Snyder from the league, the Harris deal probably would not be approved without some revisions.”
One issue is the raw size of the proposed group of limited partners. They each have to be properly vetted by the league. That will slow things down, at a minimum.
This issue and others make it unlikely that the deal will ready for approval when owners meet later this month.
Although Commanders fans currently are euphoric at the prospect of Snyder’s permanent exit, they should want a new owner with the appropriate financial wherewithal to run the team successfully. It’s far better, frankly, to have a new owner who passes the approval process with flying colors than to see the team sold to someone for whom exceptions need to be made.
Those exceptions could, quite frankly, contribute to keeping the team in the unexceptional category.
