Roger Goodell - Some Owners Opposed To Him Because of Process - Profootballtalk.com

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MOVE AGAINST (ROGER) GOODELL COMING?

As the 32 owners meet in Chicago on a so-called "one per club" basis (i.e., the room will have only 32 chairs), we're hearing that there very well could be a move by owners against the installation of Roger Goodell as the successor to Paul Tagliabue.

While some teams, we're told, are opposed to Goodell on the merits of whether he's the best candidate, a larger number of teams are miffed about the process. Andrea Kremer of NBC reported last night that one owner expressed concern regarding the "transparency" of the effort that, by all appearances, has set the table for Goodell.

As we hear it, there's a growing perception that the process has not been "fair, open, or above board."

The thinking is that Tagliabue helped steer the eight-member selection committee toward a list of five finalists from which Goodell would be the obvious choice. But even though Tagliabue has tried his best to put Goodell in position to get the job, we're also told that some league insiders believe that NFL outside counsel Gregg Levy was added to the list of five finalists in order to give Tagliabue a fallback candidate if Goodell can't win the support of 22 of 32 teams. Under this scenario, if Goodell can't get the votes, then Levy would acquire Tags' support, since Tagliabue's primary objective (we hear) is to get a new Commissioner in place, so that he can then ride off into the sunset.

We're hearing that there has been "a lot of chatter" about Levy over the past couple of weeks, and that he could indeed emerge as a compromise candidate.

Whether a compromise candidate is even necessary depends on whether enough owners mount an open charge against Goodell. Though there has been no overt lobbying for another candidate in the run up to the meeting, the undercurrent of frustration regarding the process, which as we hear it includes consternation as to the perception that the owners are limited by the list of hand-picked finalists, could bubble over.

If that happens, then the question becomes whether anyone can muster 22 votes in a three-day meeting. The owners proved in March that they can reach a consensus when the chips are down; however, this time around they have the luxury of time. Sure, Tagliabue might not like it if they can't git 'r done by Wednesday.

But what's he gonna do, vacate the office?

We're also told that there's another candidate who opted out of placement on the list of finalists because he didn't want to publicly make it to the last cut and then fail. We're trying to find out who the sixth finalist is, since there's a chance that he could end up right back in the mix if none of the five who are currently under consideration get the job.

Finally, we're told that the voting by the owners will occur on a "to be determined ad hoc basis" involving a combination of open voting and secret ballot. To the extent that secret ballots will be used, one of the Big 4 accounting firms is on hand to verify the results.

Stay tuned.