Goodell extension almost completed
NYG’s McAdoo says to players: Talk to me
NEW YORK — The NFL expects a five-year contract extension with Commissioner Roger Goodell to be finalized soon, despite a threatened lawsuit by Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
NFL spokesman Joe Lockhart said Thursday that “our expectation is this will be wrapped up soon, but we can’t project an actual date.”
The extension would carry through 2024. Goodell became commissioner in 2006.
Lockhart added that the league is aware of Jones’ potential lawsuit, which apparently has been sparked by star running back Ezekiel Elliott’s six-game suspension over alleged domestic violence.
Lockhart said “certainly neither the compensation committee or the league has been made aware of a lawsuit being filed.”
GIANTS: Ben McAdoo and players are in a defensive mode after published comments by two anonymous New York Giants players that the second-year coach has lost the team and guys are giving up in the wake of a 1-7 start.
The ESPN report also quoted a player as saying the guys are giving up on the season, the coach is not a leader, that he is handing out more fines this season and that they did not like his policy of having players work out at 80 percent the day before a game.
McAdoo, who usually does not talk to the media on Thursdays, changed his routine. He said he has an open-door policy for anyone who wants to vent.
“It’s hard to help a player when they don’t put their name on a quote,” McAdoo said. “So, if they need some help, come see me. I’m the guy that can help them.”
CONCUSSIONS: A video review of 459 reported concussions suffered during the past two NFL seasons has found far more occurred on passing plays than any other plays.
Yet quarterbacks ranked at the bottom of the list, ahead of only kickers, having suffered 5 percent of those concussions.
Of course, only one quarterback is on the field at a time. Positions in which multiple players are in action at the same time, cornerback and wide receiver, led the list of frequency at 22 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
COLTS: Indianapolis released two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Vontae Davis on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Davis took his complaints about the organization public. PATRIOTS: New England claimed tight end Martellus Bennett off waivers Thursday, a day after he was cut by the Packers for “failing to disclose a physical condition.” OBITUARY: Joe Fortunato, the speedy linebacker who helped the Chicago Bears win the 1963 NFL title, has died Monday in Mississippi. He was 87. Fortunato was a star player at Mississippi State.