NFL commissioner Roger Goodell is set to receive a contract extension through March of 2027, according to multiple owners at the league’s spring meeting in Minneapolis. Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank all told reporters on Tuesday that progress is being made on a contract extension for Goodell.
Goodell’s current contract runs through March of 2024, so if he doesn’t agree to a new contract, the 2023 season will be his last as commissioner. The financial terms of the pending extension were not disclosed.
“When it’s extended, we’ll let you know. It’s not extended today, that’s for sure,” Goodell said on Tuesday. “I have a year left. … I love the job. I have no doubt that we’ll reach that point at some point, but when we do, I will let you know.”
Irsay was more straightforward, claiming that Goodell’s extension is essentially done.
“It’s just dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s, but it’s done,” Irsay said. “We still have to rubber-stamp it, so to speak, but it’s virtually done.”
Goodell, 64, has been the league’s commissioner since Sept. 1, 2006. If he agrees to the five-year extension, it would put him in position to be the NFL’s head man for over two decades. It would also make Goodell the second-longest-tenured commissioner in NFL history. Goodell’s predecessor, Paul Tagliabue, was the league’s commissioner from 1987-2006. Before Tagliabue, Pete Rozelle was the commissioner for 29 years (1960-1989).
Goodell has previously earned contract extensions in 2009, 2012 and 2017. His current five-year agreement, which as mentioned expires in March of 2024, is reportedly worth up to $200 million.
Irsay mentioned the possibility of Goodell passing off his duties to someone else in the league office as he ages.
“There’s just a lot of pressure, a lot of hard work, a lot of responsibility,” Irsay told reporters. “So he may want to do some other things as he gets into his later 60s.”
Goodell plans on still being a full-time commissioner but is open to the possibility of taking a step back.
“It’s something that has come up,” Goodell said. “So this will be when I retire, it’ll be the third transition that I’ve been through as commissioner. That discussion has come up on every single one of those. I have no doubt it will come up again. It’s a healthy discussion to have, the job changes over the years. It’s changed even while I have been commissioner. So I know that we will have those discussions at the appropriate time.”
While Goodell has been a controversial commissioner in some circles, he has played an integral role in most of the league’s major business decisions, including stadium development, gambling and the NFL’s numerous lucrative television deals. He also led the NFL through the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the league did not miss a single scheduled game.