Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder listens to head coach Ron Rivera during a news conference at the team’s NFL football training facility, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020 in Ashburn, Va.

Alex Brandon / AP Photo

The Washington Commanders announced on Wednesday that owners Dan and Tanya Snyder have hired BoA Securities, a subsidiary of Bank of America, to consider “potential transactions” for the team — an about-face from one of the (if not the) least favorable owners in the NFL.

The news was first published by Forbes, and the Commanders released a statement of their own shortly after.

“The Snyders remain committed to the team, all of its employees, and its countless fans to putting the best product on the field and continuing the work to set the gold standard for workplaces in the NFL,” reads the statement from the team, which has been embroiled in several scandals, investigations and a congressional probe over reports of a toxic workplace culture under Snyder’s tenure.

The Commanders have been skimpy on the details or what the “potential transactions” could be, leaving it at “We are exploring all options.” This could include selling the team completely or selling a partial ownership stake in the franchise. Rumors have already started swirling about who could be opening their wallets, including Jeff Bezos and investor Josh Harris, who owns stake in the 76ers and New Jersey Devils.

It’s quite a different tone than what seemed to be happening behind closed doors not too long ago. According an October ESPN report, Snyder was rejecting any of the league’s efforts to push him out without a fight, and threatening to “blow up” other owners’ with a stockpile of secrets he’s learned about them through his use of private investigators, should they attempt to oust him.

So it remains to be seen if this really will be the end of Snyder’s troubled reign over D.C.’s football team — which he’s owned since 1999 — the start of a fresh slate for the Commanders. In recent years, the 57-year-old has stayed at the helm (often to the dismay of Washington fans) through two name changes, several investigations into a toxic workplace culture, sexual harassment, and financial impropriety, and a push for a new stadium that’s failed to attract the attention (or pockets) of leaders in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia.

The team has played at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland since 1997, but the agreement with Prince George’s County is set to lapse in September 2026. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan — famously a Ravens fan — has said the state won’t pay for a new stadium. In Virginia, lawmakers in the General Assembly have yet to pass legislation setting aside any money for a stadium in the commonwealth — hesitations fueled in part by the team’s scandal-ridden past.

U.S. House of Representatives member Jennifer Wexton, who represents parts of Northern Virginia, tweeted in support of a sale on Wednesday, as did Robert Griffin III, a former Commanders quarterback.

Asked about the potential sale on Wednesday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has long pushed for the city to regain control of the federally owned RFK Stadium, said it seemed like a positive move for the team.

“There have been a lot of objections raised about the team coming back to RFK where it played for many years, and the ownership was one, and the name was one,” Bowser said. “So I think a number of the obstacles that people have raised, those are two big ones.”

And while no one has confirmed the suspicions of Swifties across the D.C. region, it is a curious coincidence that the news comes just a day after the artist announced her Eras Stadium Tour, which glaringly excluded FedEx Field.

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