NFL commissioner Roger Goodell signs five-year extension

— -- Roger Goodell has signed a five-year contract extension to remain the commissioner of the NFL, according to a letter obtained by ESPN.

A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that the new contract would be worth $200 million over the life of the contract -- about $40 million annually -- if owners approve all the bonuses and all the incentives are met. The new deal runs through the 2023 season.

The base salary of the new contract is in the single-digit millions, a source had told Schefter. Roughly 85 percent of the total potential compensation package is from bonuses, which would be subject to ownership approval and validation.

The six members of the NFL compensation committee, which had been granted permission to negotiate the extension, said it supported the signed contract in a letter to NFL owners.

"Our Committee unanimously supports the contract and believes that it is fully consistent with 'market' compensation and the financial and other parameters outlined to the owners at our May 2017 meeting, as well as in the best interests of ownership," the letter said. "...?We are pleased to report that there is a nearly unanimous consensus among the ownership in favor of signing the contract extension now."

Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank, who heads the compensation committee, told The MMQB he was "relieved" that Goodell had signed the deal.

"I'm happy that it's over. I was just telling Roger that, in the history of the NFL, I'm not sure a big decision has been so transparent as this one," Blank told The MMQB. "We got a lot of input from a lot of owners, a lot of guidance from them, and we feel very good about what developed out of that."

Blank said the owners will have a more direct line to Goodell going forward, including a session with the commissioner at future owners meetings.

Goodell's new deal had been a contentious issue throughout 2017. Sources had told ESPN in October that the debate over NFL player protests during the national anthem was one reason for the delay in completing the extension.

Goodell has earned $212.5 million since he was elected NFL commissioner in 2006 as Paul Tagliabue's replacement. The NFL paid Goodell nearly $32 million in fiscal year 2015, the last year for which public records exist.

Prior to signing the extension, which was first reported by ProFootballTalk, his contract would have expired after the 2018 season.

Sources previously told ESPN that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was leading an effort to try to halt the league's compensation committee from completing the extension. He later told USA Today Sports that he would not sue over the extension but wanted "accountability" in the process.

Jones had been removed as a non-voting seventh member of the compensation committee after his threat of a lawsuit.

Blank told The MMQB that he spoke with Jones recently and that the Cowboys owner?"understands the contract and how we got here." Blank also said Jones will present some proposals on NFL matters in the near future.