Jerry Jones vs. Roger Goodell: Direction of NFL at stake in epic power struggle

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Jerry Jones vs. Roger Goodell

No need to wait for Super Bowl 52.

The NFL's biggest showdown of the 2017 season already has kicked off. Jerry Jones vs. Roger Goodell.

And the stakes are much higher than the Lombardi Trophy. The winner essentially controls what direction a multibillion-dollar entity is heading during one of the most tumultuous periods the league has ever faced.

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Goodell has handled this responsibility since he was elected to the position in September 2006. His tenure would continue through 2024 if the contract extension unanimously approved last May by team owners — including Jones himself — comes to pass.

Jones hasn't just gotten cold feet since casting that ballot. They're more frozen than those of the 1967 Cowboys that played in the Ice Bowl.

Jones has publicly claimed his beef is the way Goodell would be compensated. Jones wants Goodell to receive more of an incentive-based contract than the one currently being crafted by the league's six-owner compensation committee.

It's obvious, though, that Jones' concerns about NFL operations under Goodell run much deeper than that.

Multiple media reports have detailed the steps Jones has taken to try and slow Goodell's new deal. Jones even went so far as to threaten legal action against the compensation committee if the deal they crafted wasn't submitted to league owners for another vote.

There also is the belief that Jones leaked Goodell initially requesting a $50 million annual salary, free use of a private plane and health insurance for life in a new deal set to begin upon completion of his current pact in 2019.

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While the NFL has denied those demands were made, more damage to Goodell's already negative image was done. Quoting sources, CNBC reported last week that "more than half" of team owners now want to wait on finalizing a new contract "because the timing could be a public relations disaster."

Jones' actions received pushback. First, he was removed as a non-voting contributor to the compensation committee. That was followed by legal threats for Jones to stand down and stop criticizing the league or risk sanctions that could, in an extreme scenario, lead to him being stripped of team ownership.

The latest twist happened last Thursday when Jones sent a letter to Goodell pointing out specifics of the league’s “unprecedented upheaval in the last two years” under the commissioner’s watch. Jones cited “a significant decline in television ratings, increased advertiser discontent, high-profile litigation concerning player suspensions, and decreasing ticket sales.”

Addressing the pending Goodell contract extension, Jones wrote, “This is not the time for the League to undertake massive contractual obligations which are inconsistent with the League’s performance.”

Per the Wall Street Journal, Jones had requested an emergency session of NFL owners Nov. 28 in New York City. While that request was denied, there will be one held Dec. 13 at a previously scheduled NFL meeting in Dallas.

Derailing the extension would be considered a vote of no-confidence in Goodell and create the kind of lame-duck vibe that might persuade some owners to believe a change on top is necessary. Or it may prompt Goodell to leave if he doesn't believe he has the support needed for effectiveness doing his job.

Jones himself isn't believed to have interest in personally replacing Goodell. The Cowboys owner is 75 years old and far more passionate about trying to win another Super Bowl than running the league.

But it’s also obvious that Jones would have a major say in the selection process for a new football czar if Goodell says goodbye. Jones also would likely want changes made in the way a new commissioner does his job.

Here are three of those areas:

— Power over player discipline: Jones didn't seem to mind when Goodell suspended New England quarterback Tom Brady four games for his role in the Deflategate scandal despite questionable conclusions from the findings of the investigative unit he oversees. It was a different story when the league cracked down on one of the Cowboys’ own for even murkier circumstances.

While Jones may claim one has nothing to do with the other, it's no coincidence his objections to Goodell's extension surfaced around the same time star running back Ezekiel Elliott was given a six-game NFL suspension under its domestic-abuse policy. Jones was insistent that Elliott should be cleared and the investigation wasn't done “in a fair way,” per comments he made on 105.3 FM in Dallas.

In fact, ESPN reported that when Jones learned of Ezekiel Elliott's six-game suspension for alleged domestic violence, the Cowboys owner issued a strong threat to Goodell referencing Patriots owner Robert Kraft and the Deflategate battle. 

Of course, "fair" is a subjective term given Goodell's wide-ranging disciplinary power under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

District judges shared some of the same concerns that Jones now has when hearing legal arguments from the Brady and Elliott camps. That led to those suspensions being temporarily placed on hold. The punishments were ultimately restored upon NFL appeals to higher courts, which loathe getting involved with labor disputes unless a determination of extreme bias toward an employee by management/ownership is too great to ignore.

Elliott stopped his legal fight last week and must now sit for the next four games as the Cowboys (5-4) fight to stay in the playoff race.

Goodell successfully insisted upon keeping his "judge-juror-jailer" juice during CBA negotiations with the NFL Players Association in 2011. Jones, though, could potentially lean on a new commissioner to lessen such omnipotent jurisdiction and tweak Article 46 in exchange for an NFLPA concession during the next labor negotiations. The current CBA expires after the 2020 season.

— National anthem protocol: The other Goodell action that chafed Jones was inaction regarding the pre-game kneeling by a small group of players. The gesture continued the ongoing alienation of some fans that began with Colin Kaepernick’s social protests in 2016.

Jones has insisted that Cowboys players stand during the anthem. Goodell has refused to institute league rules with punishments for those who don’t, instead trying to resolve the issue through player/owner talks.

As the league continues to spin its wheels, the backlash continues not just with fans amid declining television ratings, but with NFL advertisers worried about being associated with a derisive brand. One of them is Papa John's. Company founder John Schnatter ripped the league in an October earnings call for "not resolving the current debacle to the players' and owners' satisfaction."

"NFL leadership has hurt Papa John's shareholders," Schnatter said.

It's probably no coincidence that Jones has a close friendship with Schnatter and owns 100-plus Papa John’s franchises.

Jones would undoubtedly press a new commissioner for an anthem mandate even at the risk of pushback from players who would counter by saying their constitutional rights are being curtailed.

— Salary: Jones can pitch NFL owners on the ability of savings into the eight figures annually by tapping a new commissioner who could potentially do an even better job. That may someday happen, but the struggle Jones would face now is presenting a viable replacement when there is currently no heir apparent for the day when Goodell is done.

The back-and-forth between Jones and Goodell/supporting owners doesn't appear to have an end in sight until the extension issue is resolved. But there are those who can already claim victory.

— President Trump: His anti-NFL/Kaepernick comments and Twitter attacks in September about the lack of a national anthem protocol reignited the controversy that had largely died down. It also played to Trump’s voter base that has soured on the league because of the protests and exacerbated tension between Jones and Goodell.

— Lawyers: The more legal threats between the NFL and Jones, the more silk-stocking attorneys cash in.

And: Those who hope Goodell, Jones and/or the NFL fails for a variety of reasons beyond those stated above.

That's why it's in the best interest of Goodell, Jones and other NFL owners to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. The league faces enough outside challenges to its mainstream popularity without the possibility of imploding from within.

Ultimately, Goodell should weather this latest storm, and Jones will keep his Cowboys, albeit with the personal stigma of being the modern-day Al Davis as the NFL's outlaw owner. The majority of NFL owners would rather deal with the devil they know (Goodell) than a new commissioner with whom Jones would have a strong hand in approving.

However, it would be a mistake to underestimate Jones given his track record of improving the ways the NFL does business, as well as Goodell’s handling (or mishandling) of situations that have tarnished the league's trademark shield and threatened revenue streams.

Game on.

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