Bills Exec VP/Strategic Planning Mary Owen, one of the highest-ranking female NFL team execs, is stepping down from her position with the team to run the foundation of the team’s late owner, her uncle Ralph Wilson. Owen is the first high-profile departure from the team since Wilson’s passing in March. NFL owners are scheduled Wednesday to vote on the team’s sale to Terry Pegula, with the club formally set to change hands from the Wilson estate soon after. Owen, who is on the NFL Int'l Committee, oversaw the team’s games in Toronto, as well as the decision to pull back from that effort this year. Owen in an e-mail wrote, “I will not be making the transition with the team. I will stay in Detroit and continue my work at the family office and with the Wilson Foundation.”
Owen is the second high-profile female exec to leave an NFL team in as many years, following the departure of Raiders Chief Exec Amy Trask in '13. That leaves only a handful of senior female NFL team execs, including Bengals Exec VP Katie Blackburn, Dolphins VP/Football Operations Dawn Aponte and Chargers Exec VP & CFO Jeanne Bonk. An NFL spokesperson said that no changes had been made to the makeup of the int'l committee.
