Dogs and cats are indeed living together, as the NFL borders on mass hysteria.
In his ongoing assault against the contract extension to be given to Commissioner Roger Goodell, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones still has a small cadre of like-minded owners. The strongest supporter is believed to be the man who owns one of his top on-field rivals.
As noted here last week, Washington owner Daniel Snyder urged Jones to accept an offer from Falcons owner Arthur Blank to accept a vote on the Compensation Committee, which Blank chairs. More recently, suspicions have emerged regarding Snyder assuming an active role in leaking information to the media -- information that may or may not be accurate.
For example, as one league source explained it to PFT, some suspect that Snyder was the source of a report from CNBC’s Scott Wapner that more than half of all owners want to press the brakes on Goodell’s new contract. Likewise, it’s not unreasonable to wonder whether Snyder was the unnamed owner who dismissed to the Washington Post the possibility of Jones facing anything more than payment of the NFL’s legal fees and also a fine in connection with his (so far hollow) threat to sue the league.
Though the possibility of franchise forfeiture remains remote, the NFL already has told Jones that he faces the loss of draft picks and a possible suspension for engaging in conduct detrimental to the league. Logic and common sense suggest that only someone sympathetic to Jones would scoff at any potential punishment more than financial in nature.
It’s still unclear which owners agree with Jones and Snyder. It’s believed that Jones has a total of four or five allies, and there’s no evidence that the group has grown in recent weeks. At this point, it would take at least 24 to undo the mandate provided in May to the Compensation Committee to negotiate and finalize a new contract with Goodell.
So why hasn’t the deal been done? That’s a question for a future blurb.
UPDATE 3:23 p.m. ET: Washington spokesman Tony Wyllie tells PFT that Snyder has not been an on- or off-the-record source for any reporting regarding the Jones/Goodell situation.