As all 32 NFL owners met and voted to open negotiations for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to obtain a new contract, the voting did not come without a wedge of controversy.
Two of the NFL’s most influential owners—Cowboys’ Jerry Jones and Patriots’ Robert Kraft—were reportedly involved in a fiery verbal exchange during the owners’ meeting Tuesday after 31 of the league’s owners voted in support of Goodell securing a new contract, according to ESPN’s Seth Wickersham.
The lone objector to the latest measure involving Goodell was Jones. In his disapproval, the Cowboys’ owner reportedly told Kraft “don’t f — with me” during the owners-only assembly. While Kraft responded to Jones, saying “excuse me,” Jones doubled down on his stance, saying “don’t mess with me.”
Jones’s reasoning for going against the NFL’s compensation committee to open deliberation on a new contract for Goodell stems from him believing that the commissioner’s proposed bonus pool in a new agreement will be unclear and not fastened to a firm set of economic goals and metrics. The Cowboys’ owner reportedly seeks strong accountability on the “financial goals” associated with “Roger’s bonus” and is hesitant to award the commissioner a bonus before he “performs” the deeds that come with earning a bonus.
Per the New York Times, Goodell totaled nearly $128 million over a two-year period from 2020 to 2021. According to Wickersham, Jones’s exchange with Kraft Tuesday was not one that stemmed from previous friction between the two. However, after owners voted to start negotiations for a new contract for Goodell, a spokesman from Dallas failed to comment on the issue while New England’s spokesman did not comment immediately.
With the staggering vote in support of Goodell, it appears that the league’s owners would like to see him remain in the position, a title that Goodell has held since 2006.
In Goodell’s tenure, he aided in the process of the NFL solidifying a new 10-year collective bargaining agreement, added a 17th game to the NFL regular season, established long-term broadcast deals and ensured that the 2020 COVID-19 season did not miss any games. However, on the other side of Goodell’s success, the NFL finds itself dealing with a myriad of health issues with an emphasis on concussions and head injuries as well as wrongdoings and misconduct with the Commanders and owner Dan Snyder.
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