Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had fought tooth and nail against the extension NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell just recently signed.
Jones went as far to hire this prominent attorney to help block an extension. Obviously, that did nothing to change the fact that Goodell will now earn $200 million on his new five-year extension.
That was made official Wednesday at the end of the annual NFL Owner’s meeting in Dallas on Wednesday.
Still seemingly bitter over the entire arbitration process that led to the six-game suspension Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott received, Jones is now talking about the possibility of limiting Goodell’s power.
#Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: “You can have a nice, long conversation about the power of the commissioner.” Interesting. Discussing possible constitutional changes.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) December 13, 2017
Said changes to the constitution and bylaws are extremely unlikely. The NFL and NFLPA are currently working under a collective bargaining agreement that the two sides hashed out back in 2011. To take power away from Goodell prior to the CBA coming to a conclusion in 2020 would seem rather unlikely.
Then again, there has definitely been some legal questions about what many view to be the overreaching power of the commissioner, primarily when it comes to handing down punishments.
At nearly every turn, from the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson cases to Tom Brady and Elliott, the courts have differed on whether Goodell’s power is a violation of worker rights and the broader organization-union dynamic.
We can question Jones’ motives all we want. But there’s certainly a segment of NFL owners who are in line with his stance here. It’s dialogue we’re sure Patriots owner Robert Kraft would also like to have following the entire Deflategate mess.
Even then, it’s highly unlikely anything will change until a new CBA is signed and a new commissioner is leading the league office after Goodell’s extension expires.
Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who heads the NFL Compensation Committee, made this clear at the meetings on Wednesday in Dallas.
“The owners were bothered by anything that was a distraction from the league, the league’s business,” Blank said, via the Dallas Morning News. “There was a strong feeling in the room that we need to bond together, be together.”
Limiting Goodell’s power over arbitration would seemingly be a distraction for a league that has seen unprecedented growth under his watch. Other owners tend to agree.
“You can’t be cutting off your nose to spite your face,” one unnamed owner said about stripping Goodell of his power. “People tend to focus on the things he did wrong. But who’s going to replace him? That’s when things bog down.”
It’s now readily apparent that Goodell’s power will not be limited until he retires after his current extension concludes. At the very least, NFL owners won’t limit said power. Who knows what the courts will say when the next league-union legal battle inevitably takes place?