Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft have heated trade amid Goodell contract dialogue

NEW YORK — NFL house owners voted 31-1 on Tuesday to allow their compensation committee to open negotiations on a brand new contract with commissioner Roger Goodell, however not earlier than two of the league’s strongest house owners, the Dallas Cowboys’ Jerry Jones and New England Patriots’ Robert Kraft, engaged in a heated trade, a number of league and possession sources instructed ESPN.

The sources mentioned Kraft joined the overwhelming majority in sturdy assist for the measure, with Jones the lone dissenter within the owners-only session, finally telling Kraft, “Do not f— with me.”

Kraft replied, “Excuse me?”

“Do not mess with me,” Jones mentioned.

The measure then handed, sources mentioned. The NFL and a Cowboys spokesman declined remark. A Patriots spokesman did not instantly present a remark from the staff.

This is not the primary time Jones has been outspoken and against a brand new contract for Goodell, 63, and sources mentioned his difficulty stays the identical: the construction of Goodell’s compensation. In 2017, Goodell signed a brand new five-year deal that was completely different from his earlier ones. Jones led a cost that restructured Goodell’s deal from principally salaried to principally bonuses based mostly on efficiency. A number of committees comprised of homeowners decide whether or not they really feel Goodell has met objectives and targets.

Jones is worried that the triggers for Goodell’s proposed bonus pool in a brand new contract will likely be too obscure and never related to a strict set of economic objectives and metrics with out a extra rigorous evaluation, sources mentioned. “He believes in company good governance and desires accountability on the monetary objectives tied to Roger’s bonus,” mentioned a league supply acquainted with Jones’ pondering. “He’s delicate to awarding an enormous bonus to Roger earlier than he performs and earns it.” The supply added that, up to now, Jones has thought Goodell’s monetary targets had been too “obscure.”

The supply denied Jones’ outburst was related to any lingering animosity between Kraft and Jones.

The 31-1 vote alerts that almost all house owners need Goodell, who has been within the job since 2006, to proceed as commissioner for the foreseeable future — and that he needs to proceed in that position. One proprietor instructed ESPN that the committee may think about a two- or three-year deal.

Within the years since his final contact, Goodell has helped usher in a brand new, 10-year collective bargaining settlement with the union that added a seventeenth sport, helped be sure that the NFL did not miss any video games in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and landed long-term broadcast offers with new and present companions price greater than $100 billion. The NFL’s recognition is unquestioned, regardless of myriad issues concerning the long-term well being of gamers, a lawsuit from St. Louis over the Rams’ transfer to Los Angeles that ended up in a $790 million settlement, and repeated scandals and investigations into the Washington Commanders and proprietor Dan Snyder.

The New York Occasions reported final 12 months that Goodell’s complete compensation over a two-year interval from 2020 to 2021 was almost $128 million.

Goodell has mentioned up to now that he does not need to be thought of somebody who stays within the job too lengthy. ESPN reported in 2017 that Goodell instructed some house owners that he would stroll away after his subsequent contract, CBA and rights negotiations. “I am right here for you thru that,” Goodell instructed some house owners. “After that, you guys ought to begin having a dialog.”