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The Washington Commanders were one of the best stories in the NFL during the 2024 season. Now the Commanders have a bright future with Jayden Daniels at quarterback and a new stadium deal in the works. The Mayor of Washington, D.C. made some new comments about the project on Monday.
Mayor Muriel Bowser is still confident that the Commanders will return to Washington, despite President Donald Trump's recent threats to halt the plan.
Bowser shared conversations she's had with Trump about the Commanders during an interview with ESPN's John Keim on Monday.
“This is what I believe,” Bowser told ESPN in an interview Monday. “I've had the opportunity to speak on a couple of different occasions with the president about this site and about our team. And I can say this without equivocation: He is a Jayden Daniels fan, and he said himself, and the presser we were at, that this is probably the best site of any site he's seen for a stadium. I have to think that that's what I've heard him say, and that's what we'll stick with.”
Trump made a pair of controversial posts on social media on Sunday.
In those posts, he demanded that Washington restore their old team name. Trump threatened that he would prevent the team's plan to build a new stadium on the old RFK Jr. site if the name change did not happen.
Keim added that the Commanders have no plans to change their name.
D.C. mayor confident Commanders stadium deal can be done without federal intervention
Bowser remains confident that Washington's stadium deal can be done.
She stressed how close the deal was to completion, while using football language, as one reason it would not fail.
“Let me be clear, we're on the 1-yard line and it's time to get over the line,” Bowser said. “I can't even imagine having to start all over on this. There's nobody waiting in the wings with $2.7 billion. And so this stadium is a catalyst, and it will attract other investments. Any impediment to it getting done should be discouraged. When you're on the 1-yard line, you want to carry it over, right? That's all you want. No fumbles, no interceptions — let's just get it over the line. And that's what we're focused on.”
Bowser added that the deal could likely be completed without intervention from Trump or Congress.
“Listen, I don't think that's an eventuality we have to plan for,” she said, referring to Trump's threat. “What we have to do as a city is do our part. And so our part is we've come up with a great deal, we have a great plan, we've done the community outreach. Now is time for the council to approve it.”
It remains uncertain what steps Trump could even take to force the Commanders to change their name.
