Washington Commanders sale: What are the top priorities for Josh Harris? - ESPN

This story was originally published April 17 and has been updated to reflect NFL owner approval of Josh Harris' bid to buy the Commanders on Thursday.

Shortly after buying the NHL's New Jersey Devils, Josh Harris explained why.

«What we've done is buy good companies,» he told NJ.com in 2014, «good franchises that have a reason to exist but for whatever reason may have some financial difficulties or need some new leadership.»

Harris is doing the same thing with his purchase of the Washington Commanders, once a marquee NFL franchise but one that fell on hard times during Dan Snyder's ownership.

The deal, with the sale price of $6.05 billion, was approved by the NFL on Thursday when the owners voted in favor of it at a special session in Minneapolis.

Harris inherits a franchise that went 164-220-2 in Snyder's 24 seasons; only five teams had worse records during that period.

But Harris will need to revive the organization in more ways than winning. One team employee said workers have been beaten down because of the heavy dose of negative attention over the past several years, in particular, stemming first from an NFL investigation into Washington's workplace culture, followed by a congressional investigation. Multiple state attorneys general — as well as the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia — are looking into allegations of financial improprieties.

The new ownership group will have a number of priorities, from needing to find a site for a new stadium to winning back fans to eventually deciding on an organizational power structure: Will the Commanders move forward with team president Jason Wright, general manager Martin Mayhew and coach Ron Rivera? If handled right, Washington's franchise could be