The article was posted in January of this year. The "next administration" refers to the now-current Trump-Vance administration, which at that point was still incoming.
This link doesn't contain any more recent information though. It's not decided yet which return option will be taken. However, judging from the original source, it seems that the first option (sky crane) is developed by NASA internally together with contractors, while the second seems to be some new fixed price contract by some external company. This wasn't clear from the Nature piece.
> During formulation, NASA will proceed with exploring and evaluating two distinct means of landing the payload platform on Mars. The first option will leverage previously flown entry, descent, and landing system designs, namely the sky crane method, demonstrated with the Curiosity and Perseverance missions. The second option will capitalize on using new commercial capabilities to deliver the lander payload to the surface of Mars.
The article was posted in January of this year. The "next administration" refers to the now-current Trump-Vance administration, which at that point was still incoming.
For those interested in the topic, please follow the official first-party source here: https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-sample-return/