Arthur Blank: Negotiations on Roger Goodell extension are progressing

The prospect of a contract extension for NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has become a bone of contention between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and other team owners around the league in recent days as Jones has threatened a lawsuit if the deal goes forward.

One of the other team owners at the center of the conflict is Falcons owner Arthur Blank. Blank is the head of the NFL’s Compensation Committee and once added Jones to that group on an ad hoc basis, but Jones, who is no longer in that role, recently suggested Blank has misled other owners about the negotiations with Goodell.

The two men didn’t speak to each other before Sunday’s games between their teams, but the weekend did feature an ESPN report that Goodell wants $50 million a year, a private jet and lifetime health insurance for his family. The NFL called the report “nonsense” and Blank issued a statement on Monday, via Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal, saying that the negotiations with Goodell are moving forward within the parameters set out earlier this year.

“The Committee is continuing its work towards finalizing a contract extension with the Commissioner, consistent with the mandate provided in the unanimous May 2017 Resolution,” Blank wrote. “Regardless of what may have been reported, the Committee is working within the financial parameters outlined to the ownership at the May meeting. The negotiations are progressing and we will keep ownership apprised of the negotiations as they move forward. We do not intend to publicly comment on our discussions.”

Public comments, anonymous or otherwise, about the Goodell negotiations and everything surrounding them have not been hard to come by recently, so that would make for a pretty major change if things did play out that way.

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