The sport’s players don’t have guaranteed contracts. The sport’s Commissioner apparently will.
Daniel Kaplan of SportsBusiness Journal reports that negotiations over severance pay have stalled the new contract for Roger Goodell. Due to make more than $30 million per year in salary and bonuses under the new deal that would run through 2024, the haggling currently centers on how much he’d be paid if the contract is terminated prematurely by the league’s owners.
Via Kaplan, it’s not known whether Goodell’s current deal includes a severance package. It’s hard to imagine, however, that a contract of that magnitude would allow the league to walk away without further compensation.
Goodell reportedly is “widely expected” to accept a renewed deal, which suggests that the talks regarding severance pay are close to an acceptable middle ground. As one source recently told PFT, the deal would have been done by now but for the unexpected anthem controversy of the past two weeks.