{"id":95784,"date":"2025-06-01T13:52:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T13:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/95784\/"},"modified":"2025-06-01T13:52:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T13:52:10","slug":"nfl-owners-still-support-roger-goodell-they-also-want-to-know-his-replacement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/95784\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Owners Still Support Roger Goodell. They Also Want To Know His Replacement."},"content":{"rendered":"

For nearly two decades, Roger Goodell has led the NFL. The game has grown exponentially and navigated through lockouts, two CBA negotiations, and a sport that has officially gone global.<\/a> Largely, NFL owners seem satisfied with the job Goodell has done. But they\u2019re also looking beyond the Goodell era and who will succeed him, a timeline that may be coming sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

As outlined by Seth Wickersham and Puck.com\u2019s John Ourland and relayed by Pro Football Talk\u2019s Mike Florio<\/a>, owners have their sights set on the present and the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cOwners would like to have a better sense of the bench,\u201d Wickersham said via Florio.<\/p>\n

Meaning, who is on the list of candidates who could feasibly replace Goodell?<\/p>\n

Right now, there\u2019s no obvious replacement. In his article, Florio rattles off several names once floated as commissioner-in-waiting who no longer seem to have momentum. Rules analyst Dean Blandino, former Executive Vice President Chris Haplin, and ex-President of NFL Media Maryann Turcke. The latter two no longer work for the league.<\/p>\n

In fairness, it\u2019s rare that the next commissioner ever feels like an obvious pick. They often work behind the scenes and in the league office. They aren\u2019t a public and visible face, and Goodell\u2019s replacement will likely be recognizable to only a small portion of fans. Goodell himself spent 25 years working for the NFL before replacing Paul Tagliabue in September 2006, serving as the league\u2019s Chief Operating Officer (COO) before being named commissioner.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most notable part of the storyline is Roger Goodell\u2019s contract. As Florio notes, owners didn\u2019t vote on extending Goodell\u2019s contract during their May meetings. In an interview with the Pat McAfee Show earlier this year, Goodell stated he had \u201ctwo years\u201d left<\/a> on his current deal. Previously, there have been references and a belief that Goodell, 66, would sign one more extension before retiring.<\/p>\n

Could former NFL defensive back and current Executive VP Troy Vincent be the successor? Or Chief Administration Officer Dawn Aponte, a key but quiet asset behind the scenes, only visible to announce a handful of draft picks or, in rare situations (like Damar Hamlin\u2019s collapse in January 2023, helping navigate how the game and night proceeded). Or could it be a wild card from somewhere else in the league office?<\/p>\n

Like the Steelers and head coaches, the NFL has seen remarkable stability when it comes to commissioners. Since 1960, there have only been three: Pete Rozelle, Tagliabue, and Goodell. All three advanced the game and, like them personally or not, did their job well. Whoever replaces Goodell will have big shoes to fill and challenges on the horizon. Depending on when Goodell retires, potentially a new CBA in 2030. If not, an ever-expanding media landscape and international game. Like a political party out of office, NFL owners are wondering who will be in charge years from now.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For nearly two decades, Roger Goodell has led the NFL. The game has grown exponentially and navigated through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95785,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,5745,6,25178,1902],"class_list":{"0":"post-95784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-mike-florio","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-paul-tagliabue","12":"tag-roger-goodell"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114608442166776772","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}