Roger Goodell is close to a five-year contract extension to remain the NFL's commissioner, which will keep him in the job until 2024, reports the Sports Business Daily's Daniel Kaplan. Goodell, who made $34.1 million in 2014, $35 million in 2013 and $44.2 million in 2012, could be similarly compensated with his new deal. Kaplan reports that the contract structure will include "a few million in base salary with bonuses to be determined" by the competition committee owners.
Goodell, whose current deal is set to end in 2019, has at times been at odds with two of the league's most powerful owners. He butted heads with Patriots owner Robert Kraft over Tom Brady's suspension related to Deflategate, and recently, Goodell suspended Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott, a development which reportedly left Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones furious.
But ESPN's Adam Schefter tweets that it's not all smooth sailing with Goodell's new contract.
Talks for Roger Goodell's new deal have not progressed as some thought, per source. Deal likely to get done, but still issues to work out.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) August 21, 2017
Meanwhile, NFLPA executive director DeMaurice Smith said in a recent interview that Goodell's authority when it comes to levying punishments to players who find themselves in trouble could be a problem when it's time to renegotiate the CBA, which runs through 2020.
"Could [Goodell's power] be an issue of bargaining going forward? Yes," Smith told HBO's Bryant Gumbel. "Is it up to the players and our leadership to decide how much weight to put on it? Absolutely."
Goodell's ability to negotiate the terms of the current CBA made the owners a lot of money, and that goes a long way in explaining why the commissioner is close to a contract extension.
