The ESPN headline focuses on a profane message from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to Patriots owner Robert Kraft. The far more important point is that, five years after Jones tried to keep Commissioner Roger Goodell from getting a new contract, Jones is at it again.
PFT has confirmed that the owners, by a vote of 31-1, concluded on Tuesday that the league’s compensation committee is authorized to negotiate a new deal with Goodell. Jones was the lone dissenter.
And Jones, via Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta, Jr. of ESPN.com, told Kraft, the chair of the compensation committee,”Don’t fuck with me.”
“Excuse me?” Kraft said.
“Don’t mess with me,” Jones said, modifying his language.
In 2017, Jones tried to block Goodell from getting a new deal. Jerry’s allies at the time included Washington owner Daniel Snyder and, of all people, Papa John.
As one source with knowledge of the situation tells PFT, Jones’s frustration likely comes from the fact that he’s not on the compensation committee, and due to the fact that no other owner joined him in opposing the measure. Per the source, Kraft wasn’t the only subject of Jones’s ire. Both Giants owner John Mara and Browns owner Jimmy Haslam caught some flak, too.
Last time around, it became a major fight, culminating in Jones threatening litigation and Jones ultimately paying for the legal fees incurred by the league in dealing with his threats. This time, it’s far less likely that Jones will die for a second time on the same hill.