Jerry Jones backs off threats to sue fellow NFL owners

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• Jerry Jones has walked back his initial threats to sue the NFL and his fellow owners in a letter sent to Falcons owner Arthur Blank.
• Jones argued that he just wanted to ensure that owners who were not a part of the NFL’s compensation committee had an opportunity to be heard before Roger Goodell’s extension as commissioner went forward.
• Jones also denied again that his attacks on Goodell were in any way related to the suspension of Ezekiel Elliott.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has walked back his threats to sue his fellow NFL owners.

As Ken Belson of the New York Times reports, Jones took a different tone in a letter sent to Arthur Blank, owner of the Atlanta Falcons and chairman of the NFL’s compensation committee who has been described as the “point man” on negotiating Goodell’s extension.

In the letter, Jones said that his threats of legal action were an effort to ensure that all owners had “a voice in approving the terms” of Goodell’s contract extension, rather than those with a vote on the compensation committee. “With the committee now receiving valuable feedback from a number of owners,” Jones said, he is “standing down from my threat of litigation against the committee,” according to the Times.

Jones has been a vocal advocate against extending Goodell’s contract as commissioner, and had initially threatened a lawsuit against both the league and individual owners in an effort to delay the process. But after a back and forth with the league that included threats of a “nuclear option” that might force Jones to sell the Cowboys, Jones is now backing off his initial bluster.

Jones also repeated in the letter that his fight against Goodell had nothing to do with suspension of star Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott.

With the letter, Jones presents football fans first signal that the circus surrounding Goodell’s extension might be finally coming to a sane conclusion.