Cowboys Owner ‘Wants to Overthrow’ NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: Report

Cowboys owners Jerry Jones may be launching an all-out blitz against NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

A Nov. 2 conference call that was supposed to be a formality for the league’s six-person compensation committee to iron out details on a contract renewal for Goodell, sources told Sports Illustrated‘s Peter King.

During that call, Jones apparently surprised his fellow owners on the committee by warning that he had “papers drawn up” for a legal salvo in if the contract extension through 2024 was ratified. Jones demanded that the finalized deal be sent back for a general vote to have it changed or even scrapped.

“Are you telling us you’re prepared to file litigation against us?” Giants owner committee member John Mara reportedly asked, to which his NFC rival answered affirmatively

The motives for the Jones-led crusade to potentially oust Goodell are open to speculation, though the Cowboys owner has reportedly been angered by the six-game suspension leveled against his star-running back, Ezekial Elliott. Goodell has been criticized inside and outside closed doors for an uneven policy on suspensions, most notably the one leveled against Tom Brady for the so-called Deflate-gate scandal.

King, however, reports that Jones also believes Goodell is grossly overpaid, with his current annual compensation of $35 million — an amount not likely to drop much with the incentive-laden package on the table.

Then there is the controversy surrounding NFL players who kneel during the National Anthem in protest of racial injustices. Jones, who has publicly warned that he will force the benching of any of his team’s players who take a knee, and no Cowboys star has done so to date, has not been happy that the league hasn’t done more to rein in the movement before it started impacting ratings.

“There is little question in my mind,” one ownership source told SI, “that Jerry Jones wants to overthrow Roger Goodell.”