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Leagues and Governing Bodies

How Jones could alter NFL way

Committee decisions, relationships at risk

NFL owners Arthur Blank (left) and Jerry Jones now find themselves on opposite sides on the issue of a new contract for Roger Goodell.
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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones’ attack on the NFL committee negotiating terms of Commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract extension threatens to upend how the league operates, and could spell trouble for the next round of labor talks, those close to the NFL said.

While the outcome of Jones’ latest move is unclear, this is the second occasion in less than two years that he has forcefully rejected a committee’s work. Jones rallied owners against the January 2016 decision by an ownership committee that recommended a Carson, Calif., stadium site for potential franchise relocations in the Los Angeles area. Owners instead voted for a project in Inglewood, which is scheduled to open in 2020.

The NFL has long operated through powerful ownership committees, and until the rebuke of the L.A. committee’s recommendation, their decisions were sacrosanct. The committee approach spreads power and decision making among the 32 owners. With Jones now challenging that model, it calls into question what happens when he, or the next powerful owner, disagrees with a critical step, such as on labor policy.

“If the NFL’s committee structure and standards were to be discarded or even diminished meaningfully, the entire operating procedure and ownership control of the league would change,” Marc Ganis, a sports consultant with deep ties to NFL owners and management, wrote in an email. “Among the results would be those owners who have more time and desire to focus on the NFL would have a much greater voice and much more control over the league than they do now, and the concentration of power would likely fall to a small number of owners rather than the broad collective that has served the NFL well.”

“This is the subtext to the debate on whether a new vote on the Commissioner’s contract extension should be taken,” he added.

First Look podcast, with NFL discussion beginning at the 15:30 mark:

Carmen Policy, a former league executive and minority owner, sees a far more troubling issue: owner divisions. Jones in a letter accused Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, chairman of the compensation committee, of misleading owners. That committee didn’t sit still, instead forcibly responding last week with a letter to Jones arguing his “antics” might be “conduct detrimental” to the league, a charge used largely when there is a desire to sanction or punish.

The rift was publicly exposed before the Cowboys-Falcons game Nov. 12 when the normal owner greeting on the field before the game never occurred between Jones and Blank. Jones said afterward, “I’ve had games where I didn’t visit for whatever reasons. But it’s rare.”

More than a decade ago, sharp disagreement over revenue sharing left owners divided, and in 2006, they signed a labor deal that Jones himself described as a “mean mother.” The owners ultimately opted out of the deal and locked the players out in 2011. Fully unified, the owners struck a 10-year contract with the players that is largely viewed as a victory for management.

Now, Policy believes, actions by Jones could create another rift, one that would again make unity difficult, even as the CBA expiration date approaches in 2020.

“This is a power play by Jerry. This is a situation where the conduct of certain people is creating the exposure of how business is done and the intricacies of negotiations … that is not supposed to see the light of day,” Policy said.

Take last week’s report that Goodell had asked for $49.5 million a year and lifetime use of a private jet, widely speculated to have been leaked by the Jones camp to embarrass the compensation committee and Goodell.

The leaked information was reported out of context, sources contended. First, sources said, the two terms were submitted not by Goodell but by his compensation consultant, who offered them many months ago as an example of what others in similar situations had received (former MLB Commissioner Bud Selig got use of a private jet). Other sources said Goodell is not asking for such a sum and is fine with the incentive-based approach Jones had advocated.

Then there was the CNBC report that half of ownership is behind Jones. Numerous sources said there are probably half of the league’s ownership — 16 — who have no problem with the compensation committee taking more time to deliberate on the contract renewal. But unlike Jones, most of these owners want the decision to remain with the six-member committee, not be thrown back to full ownership, sources said. Jones at one point was an informal member of the committee, an unusual occurrence that came about this year when Blank invited Jones in after he expressed concerns. Blank excluded him after Jones threatened to sue if the committee extended the contract.

Jones is thought to have only a handful of owners fully in his camp, a group that includes Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder and Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke. Outside of compensation, what Jones does have going for him, however, is unease among many owners over how Goodell has handled the controversy over players kneeling in protest during the national anthem. While owners might not like Jones’ tactics, he is not alone in targeting the problems that have afflicted the NFL and tying them to the commissioner.

In May, owners voted 32-0 to extend Goodell and delegate to the compensation committee details of the contract. While Jones has rejected assertions that his concerns only metastasized after Goodell suspended the Cowboys’ star running back, Ezekiel Elliott, in August, many are struck by the coincidence of the timing.

“There now appears to be a personal pique and vendetta,” Policy said.

The league’s committees meet next week , and full ownership several weeks later. The compensation committee currently has the equivalent of a gag order in corresponding with Jones other than through lawyers. It remains to be seen if that silence will extend to other owners and what that means for free and open discussion in meetings where Jones or other Cowboys representatives are present.


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