NFL Optimistic It Will Have New Commissioner By August 9

Rich McKay On List Of Candidates For NFL Post

A new NFL commissioner “should be elected by Aug. 9, allowing [Paul] Tagliabue to retire Aug. 18, his target date,” according to Dave Goldberg of the AP. The favorites to replace Tagliabue remain NFL Exec VP & COO Roger Goodell, NFL Exec VP & CAO Jeff Pash and Falcons President & GM Rich McKay. One or two others, “perhaps from outside the league, remain in the mix.” The owners will meet July 24 in Detroit and will “try to get down to a final four.” They will meet in Chicago two weeks later for a three-day selection meeting. Steelers Chair and selection committee co-Chair Dan Rooney: “I’m very optimistic we’ll come out of there with a commissioner.” Rooney said that the list of candidates “remains large.” He added, “I don’t know some of the people that other owners are considering, and they don’t know mine.” But Goldberg writes the “general consensus among those familiar with the search is that the new commissioner almost certainly will be an insider.” NFLPA Exec Dir Gene Upshaw: “I don’t see how anyone from outside, no matter how qualified, could step into that job and get started without spending a long time learning” (AP, 7/14).