Roger Goodell signed his contract extension with the NFL last week, which many believed would officially signal the end of Jerry Jones trying to create a barrier between his fellow team owners and the commissioner. Not surprisingly, Jones isn’t willing to give up the fight just yet.
ESPN’s Seth Wickersham reported on Monday that Jones proposed a resolution prior to Goodell signing the new deal that would have tabled the contract negotiations for six months. Jones’ proposal was submitted on Dec. 1 as part of the 32-page agenda for the league meeting that is taking place in Texas on Wednesday. The goal of the Dallas Cowboys owner was to convince his peers to put into place a six-month “moratorium on any and all actions taken pursuant” to Goodell’s new deal and prevent the contract from being finalized during that time.
Goodell reached an agreement with the NFL’s six-owner compensation committee and signed the deal anyway. Despite that, Jones said Tuesday on his weekly appearance with 105.3 The Fan that his proposal to delay Goodell’s extension is “still in place.”
“I’m not going to get into that because that’s why we have the meetings so that we can discuss issues of the time,” Jones said, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “I’m really looking forward to it. It will be a great opportunity to, as we all hope this time of year, I’ll assure you all of the owners around the NFL aren’t bailing out because they need a trip into town. They’re here because it’s important business and we’ll be able to get some very meaningful things done. In the long haul, we’ll really get some meaningful things done as and because of what we’ve been doing over the last few months.”
An NFL spokesman told Wickersham that “there is time on the agenda for all the owners to hear from the compensation committee” on Wednesday, but Jones is not a member of that committee.
Jones hasn’t said specifically what his issue with Goodell is, though he will probably still try to push for change with the way the league hands out disciplinary action. He could also threaten legal action once again, though he would likely meet the same type of opposition he did last time.
He can spin it any way he wants, but Jones has basically lost the fight. It’s an outcome that was inevitable.
