Goodell agrees to five-year extension
Roger Goodell signed a five-year contract extension to remain commissioner of the NFL through 2024. A memo from the NFL’s compensation committee to team owners confirms that Goodell and compensation chairman Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons, have signed the extension.
All 32 owners approved in May the compensation committee’s power to negotiate and sign a deal with Goodell, who replaced Paul Tagliabue in 2006.
Since then, total revenues have more than doubled to $14 billion.
A person familiar with the contract said that the deal is worth almost $200 million, with a base of $40 million. But the deal is incentive-laden.
Among those incentives are continued increases in revenues, stable or rising television ratings, a new labor agreement with the players — the NFL-NFL Players Association deal expires in 2021 — and how much the NFL gets in rights fees when it renews its broadcast contracts.
Goodell earned nearly $32 million in 2015, the last year in which public records for the NFL are available.
“Our committee unanimously supports the contract and believes that it is fully consistent with ‘ market’ compensation and parameters outlined to the owners at our May 2017 meeting,” Blank wrote.
Jets
Josh McCown will start his 13th game at quarterback for New York Sunday at Denver and match his career high set in 2004 while playing for Arizona in his third NFL season. McCown, 38, has had the best season of his 15-year career. His two touchdown runs Sunday had him joining the likes of Jim Thorpe and Doug Flutie as the only players to accomplish that feat at 38 or older. “I didn’t realize that [Thorpe] was playing at 38, so good for him. It’s cool,” McCownsaid.
Elsewhere
The NFL will look into adding targeting as a specific category for video review. Troy Vincent, the league’s football operations chief, said it is on the agenda to discuss with the competition committee and the players union after the season. In responding to questions about helmet-to-helmet hits and players launching to make tackles, Vincent said that the NFL has seen targeting reviews “work to a degree” in the college game. “I think it is something that we have to consider.”