This story isn’t directly tied to the Pittsburgh Steelers but considering Roger Goodell is the commissioner of the NFL and a very unpopular man among Steelers’ Nation, it’s definitely worth pointing out. The New York Times dropped a pretty big bomb today on how far Jerry Jones is going to stop Goodell from getting a massive contract extension.
From the Times report.
“Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys and one of the N.F.L.’s most powerful figures, has escalated his feud with Commissioner Roger Goodell, threatening to sue the league and some fellow team owners over negotiations to extend Goodell’s contract, according to two people with direct knowledge of the situation.”
Woah.
Jones seems to have revenge on his mind after what’s happened with Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension saga, the on-again, off-again nonsense of going court by court to find out his fate. As of this writing, Elliott is playing under a temporary injunction. Jones had previously been one of Goodell’s biggest backers. Not anymore.
Though not officially apart of the Compensation Committee, Jones has been an unofficial consultant of it. According to the report, he told the owners of the teams who are apart of it, including the Steelers, that “legal papers were drawn up and would be served this Friday if the committee did not scrap its plans to extend Goodell’s contract.”
Jones has also reportedly threatened to sue individual owners who are helping Goodell get his contract extension. While we’re far off from anything concrete happening, if the Steelers go to bat for Goodell, Art Rooney II could be one of Jones’ targets.
The Steelers though, have been one of the few teams to take tangible action to lessen Goodell’s power. They were the only team to vote against the current CBA, which in hindsight, is looking like a pretty solid decision.
As many others have so obviously pointed out, Goodell’s position in the NFL is as ugly as its ever been. There’s a power struggle, a looming lockout, and strife over anthem protests, ad partners, and TV ratings that haven’t given the league any positive PR.
Previously, Goodell was close to reaching a five year extension for around the same amount of money he’s making now. According to that CBS link, he made $34.1 million in 2014 and a whopping $44.2 million in 2012. Jones has seemed to stall those talks and may now be hell-bent on getting Goodell out of the league period.
To do so, Jones will need to get one-third of the league to vote no to a contract extension. Goodell’s current contract expires at the end of the 2019 season.
He was elected to become the league’s commissioner back in 2006, beating out attorney and NFL counsel Gregg Levy. There’s idle speculation of how could replace Goodell, I’ve seen Bill Polian thrown out as one name, but all of that is just speculation.
