Things got a bit heated at an NFL owners meeting in New York on Tuesday with Jerry Jones reportedly cursing out Bob Kraft.
According to Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. of ESPN, Jones and Kraft got into a heated exchange during a vote to open negotiations on a new contract with commissioner Roger Goodell in which Jones, the lone dissenting vote, told the New England Patriots owner “don’t f—k with me.”
Kraft replied, “Excuse me?” before Jones reiterated, minus the F-bomb.
“Don’t mess with me,” Jones said.
An NFL and Cowboys spokesperson declined to comment to ESPN while the Patriots did not immediately return comment.
The incident was not related to any lingering animosity between the two owners, per ESPN’s source.
The vote to open Goodell’s contract negotiations passed 31-1 — an indication the vast majority want Goodell to remain in place — but Jones’ disagreement lies in the structure of Goodell’s compensation.
This is an issue Jones raised before, in 2017 when Goodell signed a five-year contract that was different from previous ones. The Cowboys owner wanted to restructure it to change Goodell’s deal from mostly salaried to a bonus based on performance structure.
Per ESPN, Jones is concerned that Goodell’s bonus pool in a new contract will be too vague and not directly tied to strict financial goals and metrics.
A New York Times report found that Goodell made $63.9 million in each of the last two years, which was bolstered by bonuses for closing labor and media rights deals.
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