Earlier this week during the NFL owners meeting, two owners reportedly got into a “heated exchange.”
According to a report from ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr, New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones engaged in a verbal altercation.
Just a few days later, Van Natta reveal some new details about the altercation.
Here’s what he said, via NESN:
“Kraft is not as concerned about (Goodell’s contract as Jones),” Van Natta said, as transcribed by Audacy. “Kraft wasn’t as concerned about it back in 2017, nor was (Falcons owner) Arthur Blank, who was the chairman of the compensation committee, and so they got into it. And as I understand it, Kraft was sort of saying like ‘Again? We’re dealing with this again?’ And Jerry said to him ‘Don’t (expletive) with me,’ and Kraft said ‘Excuse me?’ And then Jerry ended it himself, I guess turned it into a PG rating and sort of said don?t mess with me.
“I know that Kraft and Jerry are — not only are they the two most powerful owners in the NFL, I think there is some rivalry there. Jerry beat Kraft to the Hall of Fame, that hurt Kraft. Believe me, that hurt Kraft. Jerry won that. And there is a lot of rivalry there, guys. So is it possible that don?t mess with me, don’t (expletive) with me, there’s some stuff between those guys? Yeah. But the way Jerry is viewing Goodell, I was told last night by people close to Jerry, it’s not personal. They insist it is about the contract and the structure of the new contract.”
NFL owner drama has been at an all-time high over the past few weeks. We’ll have to wait and see if these two get into future arguments.