NFL turns on Jerry Jones

Image via Zimbio

The feud between Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and the NFL continues. Jerry Jones is accused of “conduct detrimental to the league’s interests” in a letter from fellow NFL owners to his attorney.

The letter was first obtained by the New York Times. It was also copied to the rest of the NFL owners and comes a day after Jones said he intends to continue holding up Commissioner Roger Goodell’s contract extension.

The compensation committee for Goodell’s new pay package consists of 6 NFL owners, as well as Jones, a non-voting member. Goodell suspended Ezekiel Elliot in August. Since then, Jones has also stalled discussions that have been ongoing since May.

In May, Jones also voted for a Goodell extension. However, he now claims to want to make the extension process more transparent. Jones also cited the national anthem protest as a change which should be reflected in the new contract.

The argument escalated two weeks ago when Jones threatened to sue the league and the compensation committee. The other committee members own the Chiefs, the Falcons, the Giants the Patriots, the Steelers and the Texans. However they have communicated with Jones through lawyers and the media.

Negotiations

The letter, sent on Wednesday, states that Jones circulated a document with details of requests of Goodell. Although it claims that he “personally knows (the document) to be an outdated, historical artifact of no relevance whatsoever in the context of these lengthy negotiations.”

The owners said that Jones would not “threaten to sue the league and its owners if he does not get his way” if he truly cared about the league.

Jerry Jones said in a radio interview on Tuesday that he will continue to hold up the contract negotiations:

“We’ve got all the time in the world to evaluate what we’re doing. We just need to slow this train down and have a lot of time to discuss the issues at hand in the N.F.L. and have a good clear input from all the owners, which we’re not having.”

After Jones threatened to sue, the committee removed him as a non-voting member.

Ezekiel Elliot abandoned his legal battle over his suspension on Wednesday. He will serve a further 5 game ban. Roger Goodell’s contract expires in 2018.

It is clear from the tone of the letter that NFL feels that Jones is acting deliberately. It said:

“With due respect, we urge Mr. Jones to drop his misguided litigation threats and media campaign to undermine the committee’s mandate. And we urge Mr. Jones to support the committee’s deliberations, not attempt to sabotage them.”