Goodell To Skip Pro-Bowl, Stays In NY To Focus On Negotiations
Roger Goodell must be getting serious about working out a new collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Union. After all he's passing up a trip to Hawaii to continue negotiations.
The NFL said the commissioner is staying in New York so he can concentrate on collective bargaining issues, which could result in a work stoppage if a new contract isn't negotiated. This is the first Pro Bowl Goodell has missed since taking over in 2006.
"He is meeting with the NFL staff and talking with owners and others. He is fully focused on the (collective bargaining agreement)," the NFL said in an e-mail.
NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith, who is in Hawaii, declined comment Thursday. He had predicted the owners will lock out the players after the March 4 expiration of the current contract with the league.
Goodell this week said he will cut his salary to $1 if there is a work stoppage after the collective bargaining agreement expires in March.
Goodell, who makes about $10 million a year including bonuses, said in a memo to his staff Wednesday that chief negotiator Jeff Pash will do the same. Pash makes nearly $5 million a year.
NFL owners opted out of the agreement in 2008.
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