The Reporter (Lansdale, PA)

Goodell contract extension expected to be finalized soon

- By Barry Wilner

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.

“Certainly neither the compensati­on committee or the league has been made aware of a lawsuit being filed,” he said.

As for reports that Jones and other owners might be balking at the structure and compensati­on in the new contract, Lockhart noted: “I am saying the reporting about potential holdouts around particular issues has not been accurate. I don’t know where it is coming from?”

All 32 owners voted in May to extend Goodell’s contract and authorized the compensati­on committee to work out the details. Goodell suspended Elliott in August after a yearlong NFL investigat­ion. Prosecutor­s in Ohio declined to pursue the domestic violence case.

Jones, who is not on the compensati­on committee but 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.’

is one of the most powerful owners in the league, has expressed frustratio­n over the NFL’s pursuit of criminal matters with its own investigat­ors.

Regardless, that committee has continued to structure and negotiate contract details with Goodell.

“We feel strongly that the 32-0 vote ... gives them the authority to enter into a contract extension,” Lockhart said, “and the committee is moving forward under the assumption they do have that authority.”

Prosecutor­s in Elliott’s case cited conflictin­g evidence when deciding not to pursue the case. The NFL’s probe continued for a year after that decision. Jones said his running back has been treated unfairly, and Elliott has denied the allegation­s of his ex-girlfriend under oath.

“I am very troubled by the swings that we’ve had,” Jones said on his radio program

on Oct. 31. “His swing of judgment has been unbelievab­le from the Ray Rice thing all the way up to one or two games, all the way to the six-game suspension when you’ve truly got a debate. In our legal system it has to be stronger than that for somebody who has done it.”

Goodell’s decision to suspend Elliott prompted weeks of twists and turns in courtrooms from Texas to Louisiana to New York. A threejudge panel in New York is holding a hearing Thursday to consider another injunction to stop the suspension. Elliott, on his third legal reprieve, has played all eight games for the Cowboys.

Lockhart noted that the NFL, the Cowboys and Elliott all are in the same position regarding the suspension.

“The courts will dictate when the suspension will start,” Lockhart said. “We are all in the same boat here waiting for the court of appeals to rule.”

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 ?? JULIE JACOBSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ??
JULIE JACOBSON — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE

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