Commanders looming sale casts uncertainty around team's direction

Every decision the Commanders have made this season has been well-thought-out and meticulously planned. The budget, the team and the present and future have all been considered. The coach, the general manager and even the owner are all on board with the plan.

So what happens if, a month from now, a new owner comes in and says "Rip it up. Go get Lamar Jackson" instead?

Crazy, right? But not impossible. Certainly not something anyone can completely rule out. So welcome to the world that Commanders GM Martin Mayhew and coach Ron Rivera are living in right now, where reality is only reality until the new billionaire comes in and changes it. Because at some point this offseason, the Commanders seem likely to get a new owner.

And as Rivera said at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix last week, "We don't know what the new ownership wants."

[Commanders focus on NFL-ready players in seven-round mock draft] 

"It is a little bit (frustrating)," Rivera said. "You want to continue and just keep doing things that you're doing. I mean, we feel really good about what's been going on so far in this offseason. But we understand and it's a very delicate situation."

Indeed it is, though at least it does seem to be a situation that is finally, mercifully, coming to an end. After years of operating under the unpredictable, scandal-plagued and often neglectful ownership of Daniel Snyder, the Commanders are expected by many around the NFL to be sold in the coming months for a price that could exceed $6 billion. There are currently two groups that have submitted bids — one led by Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Devils owner Josh Harris, and another led by Canadian businessman Steve Apostolopoulos. And more could be coming, including a much-anticipated bid from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. 

Though no one knows Snyder's timetable for sure, multiple NFL sources believe a deal will be struck sometime this spring. And while a new boss likely won't come in and change everything about the football operations on his first day in his new office, he obviously can do whatever he wants.

And what if he wants to make splash? What if he's not buying the low-grade hype around the Commanders' second-year quarterback Sam Howell? What if he wants to look at outside options? What if he feels like throwing $230 million guaranteed in the direction of Lamar Jackson, because after spending $6 billion, what's another few hundred million more?

"Well then we'd have to, most certainly," Rivera said. "But again, we will do those things as they come to us."

Right or wrong, the 26-year-old Jackson has "never" been in the Commanders' plans, Rivera said. The combination of the two first-round picks they'd have to give up to sign the Ravens' "franchise" player, plus the $200 million-plus guaranteed he reportedly wants, doesn't exactly make him cost-effective. Mayhew and Rivera preferred to take a shot with a young quarterback with promise, who still has three years left on his low-cost rookie contract.

Snyder signed off on that plan, though it's unclear if his motives were what was best for the football team or what was best for the sale. Regardless, all Rivera and Mayhew can do now is forge ahead with their plan to build the team around Howell and hope they can convince the new owner that it's the right way to go.

Still, it hasn't exactly been business as usual — whatever that means in Washington — over the last few months. Though the Commanders were able to navigate free agency — including re-signing defensive tackle Daron Payne to a blockbuster, five-year, $90 million deal — they've been limited in their ability to pursue other big expenses, such as potential long-term extensions for defensive end Montez Sweat and safety Kameron Curl. They've also been unable to reach a decision on whether to pick up the fifth-year option on the contract of defensive end Chase Young for $17.4 million. Rivera admitted "we've got to kind of drag our feet a little bit" on that because of the possibility that a sale will be completed before the May 2 deadline.

"If there's a new owner, we have to go to them and find out" if they want to spend the money to pick Young's option up, Rivera said.  

"I have no idea what to expect. I really don't," Rivera said. "I know that ownership, our current ownership is doing their work on what they need to get done and trying to create the best situation for them and for the organization. So, I understand that. I respect that. That's why we just have to kind of wait and go through it and try and make sure we're doing it the right way."

That's been Mayhew's approach as well: "I mean, things that are not in my control, I really don't get involved in. That way I can look you in the face and say, I don't know."

And they don't. No one outside of the Snyders know for sure if and when a sale will be completed, and to whom. And no one but the people involved in the groups bidding on the team know what plans they might have in store for the football operations if they acquire the franchise.

Who knows if they even want Mayhew and Rivera running things? While it's unlikely new owners would fire the GM and coach this late in the offseason, literally anything is possible. Rivera and Mayhew could be building this team for someone else to take over at the end of the year, or for someone else who could step in and take over even sooner.

That level of uncertainty in Washington is "par for the course," Rivera said. And it's just the pressure they have to operate under until the sale is done and they can meet with their new boss.

"The pressure's what you make of it," Rivera said. "I mean I'm going into this that I'm going to do the job that I'm supposed to do, do the job that I've been doing, and do it to where we are. I feel very confident. I really do. And going forward, that's how I'm going to be."

In other words, he and Mayhew will keep building Commanders the way they want to build them, around a young quarterback who they believe has a bright future. And they'll keep doing that until the new boss shows up and tells them he's got a different plan.

Ralph Vacchiano is the NFC East reporter for FOX Sports, covering the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. He spent the previous six years covering the Giants and Jets for SNY TV in New York, and before that, 16 years covering the Giants and the NFL for the New York Daily News. Follow him Twitter at @RalphVacchiano.

Top stories from FOX Sports:

• 2023 NFL Draft prospect rankings: 100 best available players
• 2023 NFL mock draft: Panthers make ultimate upside play with Anthony Richardson
• Niners all but named Brock Purdy their 2023 starting QB. Is that a good move?
• Sharp: The success rate of first-round QBs makes Lamar Jackson's case for him
• NFL free agency grades: Every major signing so far for each team
• The definitive Aaron Rodgers-Packers offseason timeline from both perspectives
• C.J. Stroud vs. Bryce Young: Who shined the brightest at his pro day?
• UConn vs. San Diego State predictions: Keys for each team, players to watch, more
• MLB power rankings: Braves, Yankees, Mets dominate opening weekend
• NBA Roundtable: Can Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving will Mavs to playoffs?