The battle lines are firmly drawn. One person can break the tie.
Mark Maske of the Washington Post reported on Thursday that Commissioner Roger Goodell must approve Washington owner Daniel Snyder’s return to day-to-day management of the operations of the team. Snyder’s lawyer, Jordan Siev, insisted in a statement handed to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com on Friday that the Post report is false.
On Friday night, a spokesman for the Post, in response to an email inquiry from PFT, said of the report regarding the approval requirement, “We stand by our reporting on this matter.”
There’s one party in this matter that has not chimed in, at least not on the record. The NFL has not responded to our inquiry as to whether Snyder’s return does or doesn’t require the approval of the Commissioner.
It’s an important point regarding the question of whether Snyder’s temporary relinquishment of the day-to-day operations of the team is voluntary. If it is, Snyder doesn’t need approval from Goodell or anyone. If Goodell must approve of the move, it’s not really voluntary.
It shouldn’t be a major point, and it’s odd that Snyder is quibbling over something like this. The widespread reaction to Thursday’s news is that he got treated with kid gloves. A day later, there’s a chance the league already regrets going so easy on him.