Report: Roger Goodell's Salary Added Up to Almost $128M From 2019 to '21

Disclosure of the NFL commissioner's salary, which was largely thanks to bonuses, comes as questions are raised about the Washington Football Team probe.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell made nearly $128 million over the last two fiscal years, largely thanks to bonuses from lucrative media contracts worth over $100 billion and a 10-year deal with players, according to The New York Times' Ken Belson. 

Disclosure of his salary, benefits and bonuses, which make him one of the highest paid executives in the country, comes as he faces criticism and questions about the Washington Football Team investigation into workplace harassment. 

Earlier this week, Goodell doubled down on not releasing the findings from the probe, citing that the league promised anonymity to individuals who helped with the investigation. Additionally, the commissioner said he felt Dan Snyder, co-owner of the WFT, was held accountable considering the “unprecedented fine” and that he “hasn’t been involved with the football team for four months."

However, Lisa Banks and Debra Katz, the attorneys representing 40 former Washington Football Team employees who participated in the investigation, said Goodell "misrepresented the wishes of our clients."

"You have chosen to hide behind the "incredibly brave" women and men who came forward to try to justify your decision to protect the WFT and Dan Snyder from whatever is contained in those findings," the attorneys penned in a letter to Goodell. "You have misrepresented the wishes of our clients, and likely those of the other women and men who came forward, to justify your decision to bury what we know would be a damning report, having sat through dozens of interviews.

"Our clients came forward with details of harassment and abuse they suffered with the reasonable expectation that they and the public would be provided with the findings of the 10-month-long investigation."

During an owners meeting this week in Manhattan, a slide was shown that featured Goodell's salary—$63,900,050 per year for 2019-20 and 2020-21, per Belson. Owners were reportedly told that his recent pay package is approximately 90% bonuses. 

Roger Goodell made more money in two years than most NFL players make in a career 😲

💰: https://t.co/C671Dd9pGt pic.twitter.com/V79gAFJwCf

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) October 29, 2021

Goodell's contract was restructured to primarily focus on performance-based bonuses rather than guaranteed salaries, Belson reported, following a debate between Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and several other team owners on the compensation committee. 

The commissioner's deal that he signed in 2017 went into effect in 2019, which is five years and reportedly worth up to $200 million. The majority of it is tied to meeting both "financial and nonfinancial goals for the league," per The Times. 

The players' labor deal narrowly passed right when the COVID-19 global pandemic hit in March 2020, adding a 17th regular season game to the schedule. And, Goodell helped secure a new set of long-term TV deals with ESPN/ABC, Amazon, CBS, NBC and Fox to keep games on these outlets through the 2033 season.