Are you feeling overwhelmed trying to keep up with all that has happened in the saga involving Dan Snyder and the Washington Commanders in the last week? Don’t worry. It’s been … a lot. Let’s start at the most recent development and work our way backwards a bit.

Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay told reporters Tuesday night that he thinks there is enough support among NFL owners to oust Snyder as owner of the Commanders. Irsay’s comments came the same day ESPN published a story that reports lawyers for four dozen former Commanders employees sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell asking for a meeting. The lawyers, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, claim the NFL violated a confidentiality agreement that was meant to protect the identities of their clients.

And last week, ESPN also reported that more than 30 sources shared some of the brow-raising statements Snyder has made in private about his colleagues, including other NFL team owners, and Goodell. DCist/WAMU spoke with ESPN reporter Don Van Natta for more details on all that has happened with the embattled Commanders owner. The interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

DCist/WAMU: How likely are we to see an end to the Snyder dynasty?

Don Van Natta: That really depends on the appetite of the owners to do something they’ve never done before, and that is oust an owner, take a vote among the 32 owners. They need 24 votes. Jim Irsay coming out as he did during the owners meeting was extremely significant because he went on the record. He said he believes Snyder should no longer be an owner. And he said he thinks there are enough votes to get there. We had heard in our reporting, on background from multiple owners, that they would likely vote or would vote no on Snyder continuing to own the team. But Irsay coming out really set a marker, and I think significantly no other owners disagreed with him. The silence is sort of deafening and very bad for Dan Snyder.

How close is Snyder with other NFL owners and commissioner Roger Goodell?

He doesn’t have many friends among the owners. I had an owner tell me for the ESPN report that all the owners hate Dan. This was in response to Snyder telling somebody that the owners all hate each other. And this was a correction that this owner said, “No, that’s not true. All the owners hate Dan.” Snyder has one ally, and that is Jerry Jones. The Cowboys owner is the most influential owner among all the NFL owners. He has been Snyder’s defender for years, but we’re told by people close to Jones that that support is eroding, and that Jones will no longer defend him behind closed doors. Jones has been very careful with what he has said in the last week about Snyder. But if that’s true, that is a very bad development for Dan Snyder.

You reported that sources told you some of the things that Dan Snyder says about his NFL colleagues behind closed doors. What did those sources tell you?

We had more than 30 sources for the story. Some owners, top league officials, and former Commanders executives, who said they are aware that Snyder has said he has dirt on other owners, league executives and Roger Goodell. This dirt is in the form of information developed by private investigators. This is what Snyder has told people. We also had a senior source tell us that Snyder told another owner that he has dirt on Jerry Jones and that he badmouthed Jerry Jones.

Lawyers for four dozen former Commanders employees say the NFL has allegedly violated a confidentiality agreement. Tell us about this latest development.

This latest development comes from the lawyers for more than four dozen former Commanders, employees, and cheerleaders that were very courageous, and some of them spoke to Congress. They have seized on something in our story where we reported that witness lists compiled by Beth Wilkinson [who investigated allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and a toxic workplace culture for an NFL-commissioned report] that included some of these lawyers’ clients, had been provided by the NFL to Dan Snyder’s attorneys. And that’s significant if true, because Dan Snyder’s attorneys had private investigators go out and doorstep some of these former Commanders employees. So, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, the two attorneys, wrote a letter to Roger Goodell demanding a meeting, demanding to find out whether this is true, and if true, they have threatened to sue the league.

What will Dan Snyder do with this information?

He has said that he would “blow up” the league if owners tried to take away his beloved franchise. He’s literally said that this is information that he would use against the owners and against Goodell if they vote to take away his team.

If we’re to take the reports from NFL owners seriously, then why is Goodell seemingly still protecting Snyder?

Well, I don’t know if Goodell would agree that he’s protecting him. Goodell insists that it’s not his decision whether Snyder remains the owner of the Commanders. It’s up to his bosses, the 31 other owners. But we have a source very close to Goodell who says that Goodell has lost patience with Snyder and that he wants him out of the league tomorrow.

What lasting effects could this whole Commanders situation have on the NFL, a league that is already dealing with issues involving sexual assault, concussions and racism?

It would certainly send a message that the NFL takes these issues extremely seriously, far more seriously than critics say they have been taking them in the past. It also would set the precedent that if another owner steps out of line, does the kinds of things that Dan Snyder has been accused of doing, that person too could lose the team. In a way it could actually send a message to other owners to get their houses in order if they need to be put in order.

Previously: 

D.C., Virginia Attorneys General Launch Separate Probes Into Washington Commanders

Washington Commanders Deny Former Employee’s Allegations Of Financial Misconduct

This story originally appeared on wamu.org