ROGER THAT
Goodell lands 5-year, $200M deal
AP
Despite Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ best efforts, Roger Goodell has his new deal.
The NFL’s compensation committee informed the owners Wednesday that a new contract has been signed with Goodell. NBC’s Pro Football Talk first reported the deal.
A “binding contract extension has been signed by the Commissioner and by Arthur Blank, on behalf of the League entities,” reads the memo sent to the league’s owners.
Blank, the owner of the Atlanta Falcons, is the chairman of the compensation committee, which was given unanimous approval from the 32 owners in May to negotiate the terms of Goodell’s new deal. Giants co-owner John Mara is a member of the six-man committee. The New York Times reported that Goodell’s new fiveyear deal could be worth as much as $200 million with 90 percent of his pay tied to meeting performance incentives.
“Our Committee unanimously supports the contract and believes that it is fully consistent with “market” compensation and the financial and other parameters outlined to the owners at our May 2017 meeting, as well as in the best interests of ownership,” Blank wrote.
The memo also hypes a “nearly unanimous consensus” among the owners.
Jones, reportedly angry that Goodell banned his star running back Ezekiel Elliott for six games in August over domestic abuse allegations, had attempted to derail the commissioner’s new deal.
“I’m going to come after you with everything I have,” the Cowboys owner told the NFL commish over the phone in August, ESPN reported. “If you think Bob Kraft came after you hard (over Deflategate), Bob Kraft is a p---y compared to what I’m going to do.”
Jones even threatened to sue the other owners in November if Goodell’s deal got approved without a vote of the whole group. The NFL called Jones’ conduct “detrimental to the league’s best interests.” Jones denied being motivated by revenge.
Goodell, who has been the NFL commissioner since 2006, is currently under contract until March 2019. Since Goodell took over from Paul Tagliabue, the league’s total revenues have more than doubled to over $13 billion.