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Falcons owner Arthur Blank open to limiting Roger Goodell's power in CBA

As we learned from Kent Babb's profile of Roger Goodell on Thursday, there has reportedly been "universal support" from NFL owners for the commissioner — including New England Patriots czar Robert Kraft — despite the league's bungling of deflate-gate. But the shield might be starting to crack.

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In an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Falcons owner Arthur Blank suggested it might be time to reconsider the amount of power given to Goodell in the collective bargaining agreement.

“This deflate-gate thing, which isn’t about deflate-gate any longer — it’s about what has been collectively negotiated for decades in terms of the commissioner’s responsibility in terms of disciplining players,” Blank said. “If we have to look at that differently in today’s light, in today’s environment, as an ownership group we should be prepared to do that. The commissioner should be prepared to do that.”

 

So, while Blank isn't calling for Goodell's job in the wake of Judge Richard M. Berman's decision to vacate Patriots quarterback Tom Brady's four-game suspension, he does suggest the NFL might consider negotiating a new agreement with the players' association before the current CBA expires in 2020.

“I would have rather have seen it end with a positive ruling for the NFL,” Blank said. “I understand why the commissioner and the league feel as strongly as it does about trying to protect the rights that for decades have been collectively bargained. I think that is important.

“I don’t think they should be re-bargained in a federal court. Having said that, I think the commissioner and the ownership around the league have to be prepared to look at things, look at change and change may be appropriate.”

Article 46, which allows the commissioner to dole out punishments and oversee the appeal process — and which was at the heart of Berman's ruling against the NFL on Thursday — has existed since the league and its players' association first collectively bargained in 1968. Times have changed.

At the very least, the NFL must find better ways to compromise with players before courts get involved, Blank told the AJC, if only to avoid the recent series of losses the league has suffered in front of judges.

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“It’s not healthy for the NFL to be in the kind of litigious position that it’s been for the last several years,” Blank said. “I think that the commissioner is working hard to hold up the respect and integrity of the game, the competitive balance of the game and the shield. Having said that, I think we have to find ways to get to a better place sooner with the NFLPA than the process that we’ve gone through.”

For the record, if the owners ultimately did want to remove Goodell from power, it would cost a whopping $150 million to buy out his contract, which runs through 2019, according to ESPN's Darren Rovell. In other words, there may be more to Goodell's support from owners than simply how he's performed.

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Ben Rohrbach

is a contributor for Ball Don't Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!