Tag Archives: Commanders

NFL Free Agency Day 2! Washington Commanders Rumors and News

The NFL’s new league year started yesterday at 4pm. Teams, players, and agents have been working out deal over the last three days during the NFL’s legal tampering period. Those deals can now become official. Any pending free agents who haven’t been re-signed are now officially FAs.

Washington Free Agency News & Rumors

Commanders announce 8 players re-signed and the Andrew Norwell signing is official

Washington expected to sign Jaguars guard Andrew Norwell

Ricky Seals-Jones signs with the Giants

Carson Wentz is officially a Commander

Kyle Allen signs with the Texans

Joey Slye tendered

Deshazor Everett released

J.D. McKissic returning after Washington matched Buffalo’s offer

Landon Collins will be a post-June 1st cut

Ereck Flowers released

Cam Sims expected to re-sign

Matt Ioannidis released

Bobby McCain re-signs for two years

J.D. McKissic signs with the Bills

Brandon Scherff signs 3-year deal with the Jaguars

Tim Settle signs 2-year deal with the Bills

Free Agents Signed

Andrew Norwell expected to be signed

Trades

Washington trades for QB Carson Wentz

Cuts

Landon Collins released after refusing pay cut

Matt Ioannidis released

Ereck Flowers released

Deshazor Everett released

Washington’s Restricted Free Agents (RFA)

QB Garrett Gilbert – not tendered

Washington’s Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA)

TE Dylan Cantrell

DE Jalen Jelks

Washington’s Unrestricted Free Agents (UFA)

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick – Not expected to be re-signed

WR DeAndre Carter

WR Adam Humphries

OT Cornelius Lucas

RG Jamil Douglas

DE Nate Orchard

LB Jon Bostic

LB Jared Norris

CB Darryl Roberts

CB Torry McTyer

CB Danny Johnson

Washington Free Agents already re-signed

RB Jonathan Williams

LB David Mayo

LB Jordan Kunaszyk

CB Corn Elder

C Keith Ismael – tendered

DL Daniel Wise – re-signed

DL Bunmi Rotimi – tendered

K Brian Johnson – tendered

S Troy Apke – re-signed to 1-year deal

C Tyler Larsen – re-signed to 1-year deal

S Bobby McCain – signed 2-year, $11 million deal

RB J.D. McKissic – signs 2-year, $7million deal after initially agreeing to go to Buffalo

WR Cam Sims – expected to re-sign

K Joey Slye – Washington tendered him

LB Milo Eifler

C Jon Toth – re-signed

Washington FAs signed by another team

RG Brandon Scherff – Signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars

DL Tim Settle – Signed 2-year contract with the Bills

QB Kyle Allen – Signed with the Texans

TE Ricky Seals-Jones – Signed by the Giants

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J.D. McKissic will stay with Commanders instead of signing with Bills

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Randy Gregory isn’t the only player who’s changed his mind during the negotiating window.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports that running back J.D. McKissic — who had agreed to sign with the Bills on a two-year, $7 million deal — will instead remain with Washington on a contract with the same compensation.

McKissic has been productive for Washington over the last two seasons. He had 954 yards from scrimmage and three total touchdowns in 2020, recording 80 catches for 589 yards.

Then in 2021, McKissic caught 43 passes for 397 yards with a pair of TDs, also rushing 48 times for 212 yards with two scores.

Schefter reports the Commanders initially didn’t offer McKissic a contract until he agreed to join the Bills. But when McKissic learned Washington was willing to match Buffalo’s offer, he didn’t want to leave his current franchise.

McKissic staying with Washington means the Bills will now have to find another dual-threat for their backfield, as Buffalo tries to keep improving its offense with Josh Allen behind center.

The Bills finished the 2021 season No. 3 in points scored and No. 5 in total yards.

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Carson Wentz trade grade: Colts left without veteran QB, Commanders settle after missing out on Wilson

If nothing else, the last two days have reinforced how unbelievably important the quarterback position is in today’s NFL. It also showed how desperate some teams can get when it comes to acquiring an accomplished quarterback.

The NFL’s quarterback saga continued on Wednesday with the news that the Colts were trading Carson Wentz to the Commanders just a year after Indianapolis sent a 2021 third-round pick and this year’s first-round pick to Philadelphia for Wentz. The Colts went 9-8 during their one season with Wentz, who failed to complete 60% of his throws in Indianapolis’ last two games of the season. The Colts lost both games while failing to make the playoffs for the second time over the last three seasons. 

Below is our trade grades for both teams, as well as what each team gained and lost in the transaction. 

Colts received: 

  • 2022 third-round pick 
  • 2023 third-round pick that escalates to a second-round pick if Wentz plays 70% of snaps
  • 2022 second-round pick

Commanders received: 

  • Carson Wentz
  • 2022 second-round pick

Colts: C- 

While other picks were included, the Colts essentially gave up their 2022 first-round pick for one season with Wentz, a season that ended in disappointment. Given what they gave up to acquire him, it’s somewhat surprising that the Colts bailed on the experiment after just one year. 

While maybe a tad premature, if the Colts felt that Wentz wasn’t the answer, it made sense to pull the plug now and go in a new direction. But where do they go from here? The Colts have no proven quarterbacks on their roster, and without a first-round pick, they won’t be in the running to acquire one of the top quarterbacks in the draft. 

Given their quarterback situation, it would have made sense to include Taylor Heinicke in the trade. While he isn’t a star, Heinicke did complete 65% of his passes with 20 touchdowns in 15 starts last season. Instead, it appears that the Colts will go all-in on trying to acquire 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo. With nine picks in this year’s draft, Indianapolis has the resources to put together a trade for Garoppolo, a former Super Bowl starter who has a 37-16 career record as a starting quarterback. But given how many teams are in the market for a quarterback, the Colts may have to battle several other teams for the right to acquire the 30-year-old veteran. 

If they are unable to land Garoppolo, the Colts’ next option could be former Bears starting quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who is arguably the best quarterback in this year’s free agent class. With the 42nd overall pick in the draft, the Colts may be in position to select North Carolina’s Sam Howell, CBS Sports’ fifth-best draft prospect. 

Commanders: C+

Washington reportedly kicked the tires on just about every available quarterback this offseason that included new Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson. The Commanders decided not to wait on Garoppolo and instead settled on Wentz, a former Pro Bowler who owns a 44-40-1 regular season record as a starting quarterback. 

The 29-year-old Wentz has shown flashes of brilliance during his career. He was in the league MVP conversation before suffering a season-ending injury the year the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Wentz endured another injury-plagued season in 2018 before he helped lead Philadelphia to the playoffs in 2019. But he was jettisoned out of Philadelphia after he threw an NFL-high 15 picks during the 2020 season. 

Wentz threw just seven interceptions last year while throwing 27 touchdowns. At times, he looked like the player who was in the NFL MVP conversation four years earlier. But his lack of consistency ultimately led to his short stay in Indianapolis. While he won’t have Jonathan Taylor in Washington, Wentz will have wideout Terry McLaurin and running back Antonio Gibson at his disposal. And with Wentz in tow, Washington can use the 11th pick in the draft on another position to help improve their roster. 

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Seahawks reject Commanders’ hefty Russell Wilson trade offer

INDIANAPOLIS — Any team looking to make a trade for Russell Wilson will have a high bar to clear. 

The Seahawks declined an offer of multiple first-round picks from the Commanders, according to multiple reports. The trade offer backs up what both teams said earlier this week at the NFL Scouting Combine: The Seahawks will entertain phone calls on all players, but are not looking to move on from Wilson, while the Commanders plan to be aggressive in pursuing a veteran quarterback. 

“I don’t think you will see many quarterbacks on the move despite all the talk,” one NFL executive told The Post. 

Wilson’s trade availability has been a subject for 14 months, but Washington’s is the first reported offer. Wilson has a no-trade clause and, even if the teams agreed upon fair compensation, it is unknown if he would waive it to go to the Commanders, who could become the favorites in the NFC East with a quarterback of the nine-time Pro Bowler’s caliber. 

Russell Wilson
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Wilson’s agent said last offseason he would be willing to be traded to the Cowboys, Saints, Bears and Raiders. 

Washington has a talented roster — perhaps more so than the seemingly fading Seahawks — but the organization has been surrounded by controversy for most of owner Daniel Snyder’s two-decade tenure and is being investigated over allegations of sexual misconduct. Wilson is a former NFL Man of the Year award-winner and is close to commissioner Roger Goodell. 

Taylor Heinicke was 7-8 as Washington’s starter last season, when the initial plan to go with Ryan Fitzpatrick backfired when the veteran suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1. 

“This year we are being very proactive, looking, searching,” head coach Ron Rivera said. “We are trying to truly cover every base. Every time you hear something, you’re checking into it. We’ve got to do our due diligence.” 

Packers general manager Brian Gutekunst said he had not heard from any of his peers regarding a trade for MVP Aaron Rodgers, which could be about to change unless Washington saw Wilson as much more likely to be available.

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Report: Commanders made “strong offer” to Seahawks for Russell Wilson

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Washington General Manager Martin Mayhew said this week that the team has spoken to every team that might have a quarterback available for trade in its attempt to secure a franchise signal caller.

So it comes as no surprise that the Seahawks received an inquiry from the Commanders about Russell Wilson.

Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports Washington made a “strong offer” to the Seahawks for Wilson. How strong? Rapoport said Washington offered multiple first-round picks.

It’s possible Wilson, who has a no-trade clause, vetoed any possible deal. He said this week that while he loves the East Coast, “I think the West Coast is better for me right now.”

It’s also possible the Seahawks are trying to trade Wilson without looking like they are trying to trade him. The right offer, combined with Wilson’s OK, still might find Wilson packing his bags and heading elsewhere.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said this week the team has “no intention” of trading Wilson, a phrase that leaves open the possibility of a trade.

Wilson missed three games with a finger injury in 2021 but compiled a 6-8 record in games he played. Seattle finished with a losing record for the first time since Wilson took over as the team’s starting quarterback in 2012.

Wilson was a Pro Bowler as he completed 65 percent of his passes for 3,113 yards with 25 touchdowns and six interceptions. He also rushed for 183 yards and two scores.

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U.S. has intel that Russian commanders have orders to proceed with Ukraine invasion

Washington — The U.S. has intelligence that Russian commanders have received orders to proceed with an invasion of Ukraine, with commanders on the ground making specific plans for how they would maneuver in their sectors of the battlefield, a U.S. official told CBS News. 

The orders don’t mean a invasion is a certainty, as Russian President Vladimir Putin could still change the orders if he changes his mind, the official said.

After weeks of warning that an invasion of Ukraine was imminent, President Biden told reporters on Friday that he was “convinced” Putin had made the decision to invade Ukraine and said the U.S. believed Russian forces intended to attack in the “coming days.” 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken told “Face the Nation” that the U.S. still believes Russia is “moving forward” with plans to invade, despite denials from Moscow that Russia is preparing to launch an attack.

“Everything we’re seeing tells us that the decision we believe President Putin has made to invade is moving forward,” Blinken said. “We’ve seen that with provocations created by the Russians or separatist forces over the weekend, false flag operations, now the news just this morning that the ‘exercises’ Russia was engaged in in Belarus with 30,000 Russian forces that was supposed to end this weekend will now continue because of tensions in eastern Ukraine, tensions created by Russia and the separatist forces it backs there.”


Blinken says Russia “moving forward” with inv…

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Russia has massed roughly 150,000 troops, warplanes and equipment on Ukraine’s three sides, escalating tensions with the neighboring country. The defense minister of Belarus also announced Russia will be extending military drills taking place in the country near Ukraine’s northern borders, which brought a large contingent of Russian troops to Belarus.

In anticipation of an attack, the U.S. and other allies, most recently Germany and Austria, have urged their citizens to leave the country. The U.S. Embassy in Ukraine also temporarily relocated its operations from Kyiv to Lviv due to the acceleration in the buildup of Russian forces. 

The U.S. Embassy in Moscow issued a security alert on Sunday warning that “according to media sources, there have been threats of attacks against shopping centers, railway and metro stations, and other public gathering places in major urban areas, including Moscow and St. Petersburg as well as in areas of heightened tension along the Russian border with Ukraine.”

The alert from the State Department urges U.S. citizens in Russia to take several actions, including avoiding crowds and having evacuation plans that don’t rely on federal government assistance.

While top U.S. officials have warned Russia is poised to strike Ukraine and the Pentagon has sent roughly 5,000 troops to Eastern Europe to bolster NATO forces, the Biden administration continues to keep a diplomatic option on the table. The president has stressed no American forces would go into Ukraine if Russia invades.

“My job as a diplomat is to leave absolutely no stone unturned and see if we can prevent war, and if there’s anything I can do to do that, I’m going to do it,” Blinken said Sunday. “President Biden has made very clear that he’s prepared to meet President Putin at any time in any format if that can help prevent a war. Even if the die is cast, until it’s settled, until we know that the tanks are rolling, the planes are flying, and the aggression has fully begin, we’re going to do everything we can to prevent it but we’re prepared either way.”

Oksana Markarova, Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., said Ukrainian officials are using “every possibility” to force Russia to choose the diplomatic path rather than an attack.

“We are calling not only on [the] aggressor, which is Russia, but also on all of our friends and allies to get together and use every opportunity to still deter Russia from invading,” she told “Face the Nation.”

Markarova said that while Ukraine will “work day and night to make use of any possibility to still prevent Russia from invading,” events of the past few days indicate that an escalation is likely, contrary to comments from Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Anatoly Antonov that there is no plan for Russia to invade.

“What we see right now are all the strong messages are yet to get Russia not only to get out from the borders of Ukraine but they also, during the past three days, started an offensive,” she said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, too, has called on Putin to meet with him to work to resolve the crisis, but he also criticized Western leaders gathered at a security conference in Munich on Saturday, arguing they should not wait for an attack to hit Russia with sanctions.

The Biden administration has warned that if Putin orders an attack on Ukraine, there would be steep consequences for Russia, and Blinken said Sunday that slapping Russia with sanctions now would mean the loss of the “deterrent effect.”

“Once you trigger the sanctions, you lose the deterrent effect,” he said. “As long as there is still even a minute’s worth of time in which we can deter and prevent a war, we’re going to try to uses it.”

Blinken added that the U.S. doesn’t want to detail its plans publicly, as “that will forewarn Russia.”

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NFL accuses Washington Commanders of impeding Congressional probe

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Daniel Snyder is pushing his luck.

The NFL went easy on the owner of the Washington Commanders in July, and the league has gone to great lengths to keep any evidence regarding years of workplace misconduct within his football operation hidden. The scheme was working.

Then, after someone leaked a handful of emails sent by Jon Gruden to former Commanders executive Bruce Allen, cries for transparency sparked a Congressional investigation. Which prompted a former team employee who hadn’t cooperated with the NFL’s investigation to tell her story to Congress last week. Which has triggered a new investigation of Snyder. And which has caused the NFL to accuse Snyder’s team of impeding the Congressional probe.

Via the Washington Post, the NFL has sent a letter to the committee conducting the investigation accusing the team of keeping documents from being produced. The situation traces to a third-party vendor who has custody of the documents generated by attorney Beth Wilkinson’s 10-month investigation.

“That vendor refused to provide the NFL or even [the law firm of] Wilkinson Stekloff with access to the documents unless the team consented because of its concern that it could be sued by the team or its owner,” the league’s attorneys wrote in a letter obtained by the Post. “The NFL promptly directed the team to provide its consent to the vendor, but the team repeatedly has refused to do so.”

Read that last sentence again. The NFL has issued a directive to the Washington Commanders. And the Washington Commanders have refused to comply with it. Repeatedly.

According to the letter from the league, the Commanders have “insisted that [they] will only authorize the vendor to release those documents to the team, so that the team’s counsel can review the documents for privilege first . . . before deciding unilaterally which documents it will provide to the NFL for production to the Committee.” The league told the committee that this approaches “unacceptable” because it “it would prevent the NFL from ensuring that it can produce all responsive, non-privileged documents to the committee and would delay our production decisions.”

This entire problem traces to the fact that Wilkinson was hired not to investigate the situation with the goal of making any findings publicly known but with the express objective of helping the team (and later the league) limit liability to current or former employees. The legal privileges that are preventing the production of documents flow directly from the wagon-circling nature of Wilkinson’s investigation.

Now, the privileges become part of the shell game aimed at continuing to hide information from Congress and, in turn, from the public. The problem for the team is that the NFL no longer wants to play games, and that the NFL is willing to accuse the team of playing games.

At some point, Snyder needs to worry less about Congress and more about the league. At some point, the desire to help Snyder (which frankly comes from a desire by other owners to avoid landing in a similar jackpot) will be outweighed by the desire to be done with him. The way things are going, it seems like it’s just a matter of time before the league tells him to get lost.

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NFL tells Congress Commanders are blocking access to workplace probe

The letter — dated Wednesday and sent to Rep. Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.), the committee’s chairwoman, and Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) — reiterates the league’s assertion that “[d]ecisions related to the findings of the investigation have been made by the NFL, not the team.” The NFL also defended its decision to have attorney Beth Wilkinson, who conducted the investigation, submit only oral findings to the league rather than a written report.

The NFL said that it entered into a “common interest agreement” with the team to avoid having to restart the investigation after taking over the probe from the team. And as the committee now seeks information related to Wilkinson’s investigation, the league wrote that the team is responsible for blocking access to more than 100,000 documents.

The NFL sought approximately 109,000 team documents related to the investigation that were previously shared with Wilkinson’s firm, Wilkinson Stekloff, and are in the possession of a third-party vendor, the league’s attorneys wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.

“That vendor refused to provide the NFL or even Wilkinson Stekloff with access to the documents unless the team consented because of its concern that it could be sued by the team or its owner,” the attorneys wrote. “The NFL promptly directed the team to provide its consent to the vendor, but the team repeatedly has refused to do so.”

The team denied the allegation.

“The Commanders have never prevented the NFL from obtaining any non-privileged documents and will not do so in the future,” Jordan Siev, an attorney for team owner Daniel Snyder, said in a statement Thursday.

The NFL wrote in the letter that “the team has insisted that it will only authorize the vendor to release those documents to the team, so that the team’s counsel can review the documents for privilege first … before deciding unilaterally which documents it will provide to the NFL for production to the Committee.” The league told the committee that it viewed this proposed approach as “unacceptable” because it “it would prevent the NFL from ensuring that it can produce all responsive, non-privileged documents to the Committee and would delay our production decisions.”

The team made a revised proposal Monday, the NFL wrote to the committee, that involved “assurances to them that their release of the documents would not result in any waiver of privilege by them.” The league will seek clarification from the team on that new proposal, the NFL’s attorneys wrote, and is willing to agree to either of the team’s proposed approaches if the committee wishes.

“At the same time, the NFL has devoted considerable resources to obtaining, reviewing, and producing approximately 80,000 pages of documents to date, and the NFL is continuing to review and produce documents to the Committee, in addition to having answered numerous questions both orally and in writing,” the league wrote. “In no way is the NFL obstructing or seeking to obstruct the Committee’s investigation, and valid assertions of applicable privileges by the NFL should not be characterized as doing anything of the sort.”

The league wrote that the team has asserted privilege over 92 documents related to the investigation, after telling the committee in a Jan. 28 letter that it had asserted privilege over only four documents.

The continued exchanges between the NFL, the team and the committee come as the league prepares to investigate a new allegation of sexual misconduct made against Snyder. The accusation, denied by Snyder, was made by Tiffani Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketing manager with the team, during a congressional roundtable last week.

The Commanders initially announced Wednesday that they would investigate the allegations. Later Wednesday, the NFL said that the league, not the team, would conduct the investigation. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said Wednesday at his annual news conference during Super Bowl week that it would not have been proper for the team to investigate itself. The league has said that further disciplinary measures are possible.

The existence of the common interest agreement between the league and team was publicly revealed last week by the committee, which suggested that the agreement may have prevented the NFL from releasing the results of the investigation without the team’s consent.

“The purpose and effect of the common interest agreement was to facilitate the NFL’s oversight of the investigation, absolutely not to constrain it,” the league wrote in Wednesday’s letter to the committee. “Decisions related to the findings of the investigation have been made by the NFL, not the team, and any suggestion that the common interest agreement prohibited the release of the investigation’s findings without the team’s consent is categorically false.”

The NFL wrote that when it took over Wilkinson’s investigation from the team, it believed the common interest agreement was necessary to avoid having to “restart the investigation with a new law firm and a new lead investigator.” That would have “resulted in a substantial delay,” the league wrote, and “would also have necessitated attempting to re-interview more than two dozen witnesses,” some of whom might not have cooperated.

The increasing tensions between the league and the team are apparent in the NFL’s letter to the committee. The league writes that it is seeking to “correct certain factual claims” made in a previous letter by the committee “based in part on claims made to the Committee by the team.” The NFL says it did not withdraw from the common interest agreement, “[c]ontrary to statements made to the Committee by the team’s counsel.”

The NFL also defended to the committee the lack of a written report being submitted to the league by Wilkinson.

“It is simply not correct to suggest that submission of a written report is either necessary or the universal practice of other companies or the NFL,” the league wrote. “The NFL concluded that an oral report was appropriate, given the sensitivity of the subject matter and confidentiality promises to those who participated in the investigation.”

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Washington Commanders hire firm to investigation sexual misconduct allegations against team owner Dan Snyder

The Commanders said the firm, Pallas Global Group LLC, has retained Debra Wong Yang, a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP in Los Angeles and a former judge, to manage an independent investigation into Tiffani Johnston’s allegations against Snyder.

Johnston, a former cheerleader and marketing and events coordinator for the team, told a House Oversight Committee roundtable last week that Snyder allegedly put his hand on her thigh during a dinner and aggressively pushed her toward his limousine with his hand on her lower back as she fended off advances.

Jordan Siev, an attorney for Snyder, said in a statement: “The Commanders have now engaged an independent oversight firm to engage and oversee independent legal counsel and conduct a full investigation of Ms. Johnston’s newly-raised allegation, which allegation was not made under oath. The independent investigators and independent legal counsel will release their findings publicly.”

Siev said last week that the allegations are “false, and have been categorically denied by Mr. Snyder.”

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, addressing reporters before the Super Bowl on Sunday, said he could not see how a team can investigate itself. He said the league takes the allegations “very seriously.”

“We need to understand what really, truly happened in those circumstances and treat that in the best and most serious way we can to make sure we preserve the type of culture we want in the NFL,” Goodell said Wednesday.

At the Congressional roundtable, former employees and cheerleaders also accused Snyder of asking staff to compile lewd video clips of cheerleaders without their knowledge or consent.

A former video production manager alleged that he was asked to produce a lewd video featuring nude outtake clips of cheerleaders from a photoshoot without their knowledge at the request of Snyder.

In a statement, the Commanders said the founders of Pallas, former Assistant United States Attorneys Bonnie Jonas and Tiffany Moller, will manage the investigation.

The team said the investigation findings will be released to the public at the conclusion of the inquiry.

The House committee said Friday it requested more than 2,000 previously unreleased documents over “newfound concerns” regarding the NFL’s own inquiry into Snyder in 2020.

Many of the previous allegations were first detailed by The Washington Post in 2020, which also reported that the team paid $1.6 million to a former employee in 2009 to settle a sexual misconduct claim against Snyder, though neither Snyder nor the team acknowledged any wrongdoing in the agreement.

In 2020, the NFL conducted a yearlong investigation into the Washington franchise’s work environment, and last July handed Snyder a $10 million fine. The investigation concluded that Snyder was responsible for the club’s unprofessional and intimidating culture and that he failed to establish a respectful work environment.

CNN’s Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.

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Washington Commanders rebrand was long, involved process

What to read about the Washington Commanders

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