OWNERS EXTEND NFL COMMISSIONER ROGER GOODELL FOR THREE YEARS
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has signed a new contract extension with the league that is expected to run through the 2027 season, as first reported by business reporter Daniel Kaplan.
The league’s Compensation Committee updated the full ownership on Wednesday during the NFL Owners’ Fall Meetings that an agreement had been reached to extend Commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract for three years, through March 2027. The NFL Owners’ Fall Meetings have been ongoing this week in New York City.
“It really was quite simple [reaching an extension agreement], honestly,” said Goodell on Wednesday. “It just was a matter of getting to it, frankly… It wasn’t much of a discussion, it was pretty quick and [I’m] obviously honored to do this job so It’s not going to change how I approach my day-to-day job, and it hasn’t to date.”
Goodell signed his last contract extension in 2017, a five-year deal that kept him as the league’s incumbent commissioner through the 2023 season. Goodell was asked by reporters about his priorities over the next three-and-a-half years and whether this was going to be his last term.
“We didn’t really talk about that, it’s a three year extension,” he replied. “From my standpoint, there’s still a number of things we want to do as a league. It’s not my agenda. As a matter of fact, when we talked about the long-range plan we talked about, ‘this is your long-range plan, this is our long-range plan.’”
“There are lots of challenges out there, but there are also a lot of opportunities for us, and we’re focused on how we make the NFL better every day, how we become a global sport. I think some very exciting things are happening in that context and I feel really good about where the National Football League is today, but we don’t sit around and tell ourselves that. We really shouldn’t, and we really focus on what are the things we need to do.”
News of Goodell’s fourth contract extension started to break out on Tuesday as soon as it was finalized and owners were officially informed about it the following morning. League owners said during their meetings in late May that the deal was all but done, which raised eyebrows and led many to wonder if there were any hiccups in negotiations.
Goodell had been asked about an extension at the draft in April and provided a nonchalant answer, telling reporters, “If it doesn’t happen, it’s been fun.”
According to Forbes, Goodell was the league’s highest-earning employee in 2020 and 2021, earning an impressive $63.9 million in annual salary, almost $18 million more than Deshaun Watson’s $46 million annual salary, the highest amongst all players in the league in 2021. Details of the new extension remain undisclosed, but the total figure is expected to vastly improve from the previous deal.
Goodell is expected to surpass a total of $700 million in career earnings with the new contract, two times more than any player in NFL history. New York Jets’ quarterback Aaron Rodgers is the highest earner in NFL history at $342 million, followed closely by Tom Brady ($332 million) and Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford ($328 million).
Having been chosen as the league’s eighth commissioner on August 8th, 2006, and taking office on September 1st, Goodell has held the position of NFL commissioner for the last 17 years. Many observers expect this to be Goodell’s final deal with the league with the new contract taking him to over 20 years as the league’s commissioner. In comparison to Goodell, who is now 64 years old, former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle stepped down from the job when he was 63 years old and Goodell’s predecessor, Paul Tagliabue walked away when he was 65.
Goodell passes Tagliabue this year in terms of tenure having been commissioner for 18 seasons, including this one. Tagliabue was the league’s commissioner for just 17 seasons. The new extension means Goodell’s tenure will span a total of 21 NFL campaigns.
Asked about his legacy as the league’s commissioner on Wednesday, Goodell was dismissive of any legacy suggestions and told reporters, “You guys can decide legacies later.”
“If I was focusing on my legacy, I wouldn’t be standing in front of you, I wouldn’t have signed an extension,” said Goodell. “My job is to be the Commissioner of the National Football League, do the best I can, and that’s what I’m going to do. You guys can decide legacies later. That’s not what I’m focused on. I’m focused on what we’ve got to accomplish as a league.”
-Maher Abucheri
Twitter: @pabloikonyero
Photo: Marianne O’Leary. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.