Goodell closes in on new five-year deal

Roger Goodell is close to completing a five-year contract extension to remain in place as National Football League commissioner at least through 2024, according to a person familiar with the deliberations.

Financial terms of the deal, which was first reported by the Sports Business Journal, were not available.

Goodell’s current deal had two years remaining on it. His compensation is determined by a committee of NFL owners.

News of the extension comes at a time when Goodell’s relationships with a key owner and the NFL Players Association are back under scrutiny. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is said to be upset about Goodell’s decision to suspend Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, the league’s leading rusher last season as a rookie, for six games under the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

The NFLPA is appealing the suspension and Goodell appointed Harold Henderson, a former labour executive for the league, to hear the case. The league and union traded disparaging statements over the Elliott case.

DeMaurice Smith, the executive director of the NFLPA, told the MMQB and Sports Illustrated that, in his view, a work stoppage in 2021 is a virtual certainty. Smith also told HBO that Goodell lied by saying the union would have input into the revised personal conduct policy enacted by the league and the owners in December 2014.

The current collective bargaining agreement between the league and union runs through 2020. Goodell’s extension ensures that he will oversee those negotiations for the owners.