The NFL extended Roger Goodell, but should they have?

Looking back at how much attention has been paid to NFL matters off the field this season, why would the owners move to extend Roger Goodell when he still had a year and change on his current deal? After the multitude of issues facing this administration, an extension now seems like a poor decision. Goodell isn’t exactly Mr. Popular right now with fans, players, owners, and even sponsors.

Since he took the reigns before kickoff of the 2006 season, it’s hard to justify such a lucrative deal.

A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that the new contract would be worth $200 million over the life of the contract -- about $40 million annually -- if owners approve all the bonuses and all the incentives are met. The new deal runs through the 2023 season.

Roughly 85 percent of the total potential compensation package is from bonuses, which would be subject to ownership approval and validation.

It doesn’t matter if this deal is incentive-based or not, it’s still more than he deserved. Think about everything the league has been through in the past decade and how it was handled by this commissioner. Think about Spygate, Bountygate, Deflategate, player discipline, the Lockout, CTE refutes, social injustices, domestic violence, and Anthem protests. Has this administration ever been out in front of issues that arise? Has Goodell ever shown an ability to handle black eyes on the NFL’s public image without mismanaging the fall out?

Goodell’s constant fumbling of the league’s policies are a major pitfall. How can the NFL’s leadership continuously mishandle their own procedures that were written in language that overwhelmingly benefits them? Consistency is lacking. If anything, Roger Goodell and his lieutenants have done more to alienate themselves from their players, fans, and even some owners.

With ownership, it’s always going to be about that bottom dollar and the NFL has gained revenue hand-over-foot in the Goodell-era but at what cost? The morale of the players seems to be low, or at least their satisfaction with the current regime. The contention between ownership and the players is growing each day. Now, the players have their own union to blame for the way they completely ignored them during the negotiation process in the last CBA. The NFLPA handed the power to Roger Goodell and he’s wielded it like the authoritarian he is allowed to be.

A month or so ago, our own O.C.C. penned an article about how the NFL is experiencing unprecedented drops in ratings.

I don't know of a single company that would try to get a contract extension done with its CEO if sales were down 18.7 percent. Which is why the NFL working on an extension for Roger Goodell is so baffling. He's already cost the NFL dearly in terms of public goodwill, soon he's going to start losing the NFL some real money. Maybe then the owners will start listening up.

18.7% over two years may not be enough to hit the panic button just yet but there are lots of fans out there that rightfully feel tired of the rulings and statements coming out of the New York office. This commissioner has never been checked by these owners, which only makes them complicit in creating the damage.

The commissioner has always touted his mantra about protecting the integrity of the NFL, but that doesn’t always seem to be the case. By making this extension, the owner’s don’t appear ready to make any drastic moves to get the NFL image pointed upward again. It may also harm the process of repairing relationships with the players.

This will all likely come to a head at some point as long as the league continues in this direction. The NFL is not indestructible. The next CBA will be negotiated in 2021 and by the looks of things, another lockout is a certainty.

After everything that has occurred, the extension of Roger Goodell is a disappointment for many who love professional football.