The National Football League’s deputy general counsel for media and league business affairs, Janet Nova, has left the league just as efforts to hire a successor for her boss, General Counsel Jeff Pash, heat up.

Media outlets had tagged Nova as a potential successor for Pash, 68, who has been with the NFL since 1997 and will retire when a successor is named. Commissioner Roger Goodell in May notified team owners of Pash’s retirement plans.