Those hoping the NFL will come down hard on Dan Snyder may have to lower their expectations for impending discipline for the maligned owner. The lawyers are running things now.
In the wake of the bombshell Washington Post story detailing a disturbing pattern of mistreatment and sexual harassment within the Washington football franchise for several years during Snyder's reign, the league plans on deferring to “outside counsel” for follow-up probing.
“Washington has engaged outside counsel to conduct a thorough investigation into these allegations,” said the league's statement included in the Post‘s story. ” The club has pledged that it will give its full cooperation to the investigator and we expect the club and all employees to do so. We will meet with the attorneys upon the conclusion of their investigation and take any action based on their findings.”
In other words, Snyder and company have hired non-NFL lawyers to independently investigate their own client and report the findings to the league. The NFL will base any further actions on the outside counsel's recommendations. Rest assured, the lawyers Snyder hires are unlikely to come down hard on their client.
Whether there will be any transparency in the outside counsel's investigation remains to be seen. Considering none of the 15 former female employees made personal accusations of sexual harassment against Snyder, it shouldn't be too challenging for his attorneys to mitigate the damage. Of course, they'll still have to prove that he isn't responsible for fostering a toxic work environment for over a decade.
In summation, Washington—not the league—has hired its own lawyers to look into itself, an approach the NFL is apparently satisfied with. Meaning that, Snyder himself will probably receive relatively minor punishment and limited fallout, if any.