With so much regarding the future of Commanders owner Daniel Snyder now riding on the outcome of Mary Jo White’s investigation, there’s an obvious question that needs to be answered.
When will Mary Jo White complete her investigation?
The answer is simple. Whenever the NFL wants it to to be.
She’s not a judge. This isn’t a normal court proceeding. She was hired by the NFL. The NFL is her client. And for lawyers who work for clients like the NFL, the inevitable question from lawyer to client is this: “When do you need it by?”
Whenever the league wants it, the league will get it. She’s had enough time to do the work. Once the due date approaches, she’ll prioritize and allocate and delegate as needed to get it done. They’ll work late. They’ll work weekends. They’ll push other work back. That’s how it works for lawyers who work by the hour. (I know this, because I used to work that way.)
The more important question, then, is when the league hopes to announce the outcome of the investigation to the world and, more importantly, to the 32 people who will react to it with a possible up-or-down vote on whether Snyder should be forced out.
There will be a strategy. Just as there was on July 1, 2021, when the NFL announced the initial sanctions against the Commander and Snyder based on Beth Wilkinson’s investigation. The league swept all facts under the rug, a four-day Fourth of July weekend unfolded, and by Tuesday, July 6 no one cared anymore. Indeed, but for the leak of the Jon Gruden emails in October 2021, this may never never surfaced again.
The last time, the league wanted to do Snyder a favor, for whatever reason. This time, the league may want to light the fuse on the rocket that eventually carries Snyder beyond the atmosphere of Planet Oligarch. That will be part of the strategy that the league employs as it relates to when the investigation is finalized, and whether a detailed report is made available to the public.