Commanders announce hiring of firm “to consider potential transactions”

It’s once again all-caps-never o’clock in D.C.

Minutes after Forbes published an article reporting that the Commanders have hired BofA Securities to sell the team, the team issued a statement.

“Dan and Tanya Snyder and the Washington Commanders announced today that they have hired BofA Securities to consider potential transactions,” the statement explains. “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.”

One league source proposed a translation: “If we get our price, we’re sellers.”

Forbes reported that “Snyder already has at least four calls from groups interested in buying the team,” and that “Snyder and his bankers are exploring all options and a transaction could be for the entire NFL team or a minority stake.”

It would be hard to find anyone to purchase a minority stake at this point, given the questions swirling around the majority owner. The only benefit would be to have a foot in the door, in the event Snyder is later forced to sell.

Choosing to sell all of it now would potentially increase the suitors and, in turn, the price. The Broncos went for $4.65 billion earlier this year. Snyder bought the Commanders for $750 million in 1999. He could now sell for at least $5 billion, if not more.

The process officially has begun to find the best offer. If the Snyders get a number they like, they’ll cash out and move on.

It’s a stunning turn of events. Recent statements from the team consistently have insisted that the Snyders won’t sell. Then again, Dan Snyder once said as to when he would never ditch the team’s since-abandoned nickname.