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Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hits roadblock in war with Roger Goodell

By The Sports Xchange
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manger Jerry Jones walks onto the field prior to the Cowboys facing the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on November 19, 2017. File photo by Ian Halperin/UPI
Dallas Cowboys owner and general manger Jerry Jones walks onto the field prior to the Cowboys facing the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas on November 19, 2017. File photo by Ian Halperin/UPI | License Photo

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' bid to derail a proposed contract extension for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has hit a roadblock, according to a published report Monday.

The NFL compensation committee basically told Jones to back down in his ongoing threat to sue the NFL if league owners approve Goodell's extension, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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Jones wanted all the league owners to vote on Goodell's extension but his request was squashed by the committee, which told the Dallas owner that his continued threats "reflects conduct unbefitting an owner and is damaging to the League."

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, chairman of the six-person compensation committee, wrote in a letter that Jones was on a mission "to satisfy your personal agenda" while ignoring the facts of the issue, the newspaper reported.

Blank also noted that the league owners unanimously approved a resolution in May that gave the committee the authority to negotiate the commissioner's new deal.

Goodell's proposed extension is expected to be completed at or before the NFL owners' Dec. 13 meeting in Dallas, sources familiar with the deal told ESPN's Adam Schefter on Sunday.

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According to the ESPN report, If all the bonus criteria are achieved in the proposed new deal, Goodell's total potential compensation could average about $40 million for each year from 2019 to 2023, making it a five-year extension worth up to about $200 million.

The base salary of the new contract is in the single-digit millions, a source familiar with the deal told ESPN, and about 85 percent of the total potential compensation package is comprised of bonuses, which would be subject to ownership approval and validation.

Jones, who was removed as a non-voting seventh member of the committee after his threat of a lawsuit, has denied that his ire for Goodell is fueled by the six-game suspension that star running back Ezekiel Elliott is currently serving for an alleged domestic violence incident.

"It would be madness to think that everything I'm doing isn't in the best short- and long-term interest of the NFL," Jones told Dallas radio station 105.3 The Fan on Friday. "I love this league, and I love this game. And the men that are involved, the committee and the owners, are really good men and they've been in it almost as long as I have.

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"But I've been knowing some of these people well on 30 years. And they know I have the NFL's best interest in mind."

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