Roger Goodell has not yet finalized his five-year contract extension with the NFL nearly a month after it was reported on, and a narrative that emerged Sunday indicated Jerry Jones is partially responsible for that. You can probably guess how the Dallas Cowboys owner responded.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen reported Sunday that Jones has impeded Goodell’s contract extension talks. Sources told the two insiders that Jones is not one of the six NFL owners who make up the compensation committee for negotiations with Goodell, but Jones is said to have gotten involved in the process right around the time Goodell decided to suspend Ezekiel Elliott six games. Mortensen noted that Jones is considered the “de facto seventh member” of the committee.
The implication is that Jones is upset with Goodell over Elliott’s suspension. While that may be true, Jones said Sunday that he would never allow that to impact his involvement with Goodell’s contract negotiations.
“All of that is without any substance at all,” Jones said, per Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News. “The exercise of looking at and extending our commissioner’s contract is one that we keep really in tight. I could understand why ironically we’ve got the Zeke issue at the same time that we’re looking at extending Roger’s contract, that he made the ruling. I see that. But every day I deal with conflicts of interest, and the commissioner deals with it every day. You just have to get used to that.”
Jones added that he is one of Goodell’s “biggest supporters,” though he did not explicitly deny that he is against the proposed terms of the commissioner’s new deal. Jones would only say that any concerns he has have existed for years.
For what it’s worth, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank also shot down the report about Jones standing in the way of Goodell’s extension.
“The speculation is incorrect. He is not impeding it,” Blank told Peter King of Sports Illustrated. “I got a note from him the other day. He’s comfortable with where we are.”
Blank confirmed that Jones has had significant input with the compensation committee despite not being an official member, but he said he “got it in writing” from Jones that the Cowboys owner is comfortable with where the negotiations are at.
While it might look petty for Jones to complicate negotiations with Goodell given the timing of the Elliott suspension, he can’t be the only owner who has questions about the astronomical amount of money the commissioner has made in each of the past several years. The NFL has enjoyed tremendous growth during Goodell’s time as commissioner, but he has embarrassed the league with his handling of several important player misconduct cases. Those issues will undoubtedly be addressed in working out the details of Goodell’s extension.
