Commissioner Roger Goodell and the NFL team owners have not yet finalized a contract extension, but expect to complete one in the coming months, according to four people familiar with the owners' thinking. The extension would keep Goodell in place to oversee upcoming broadcast rights negotiations and collective bargaining talks with players, potentially including discussions over an 18-game season.

Goodell's current contract runs through March 2027, when he will turn 68. He signed his most recent three-year extension in October 2023.

The timeline for finalizing a new deal remains unclear. The NFL has scheduled a special owners' meeting for Aug. 26 in Atlanta focused on ratifying the proposed $9.612 billion sale of the Seattle Seahawks. Beyond that, owners hold regularly scheduled quarterly meetings in October and December. The October meeting could serve as a natural target, given that Goodell's 2023 extension was announced during a similar October gathering.

One person familiar with the situation described completing the extension as "critical" given the looming labor and broadcast negotiations. Another said confidence remains high that a deal will be finalized, though the exact timing remains uncertain. There does not appear to be significant opposition among owners to the extension.

The league's next major undertaking involves formal negotiations with the NFL Players Association and its newly elected executive director, JC Tretter, on a new collective bargaining agreement. The current labor deal runs through the 2030 season and prohibits the league from unilaterally extending the regular season without union agreement.

Some owners had previously hoped for an 18-game season as soon as 2027, though that timeline has grown increasingly unlikely. Formal CBA negotiations, including discussions on an expanded schedule, have not yet begun, according to people familiar with the matter.

The NFL's current broadcast deals, signed in 2021, are worth more than $110 billion over 11 years, with an opt-out provision that could allow the league to renegotiate early. The NBA and WNBA's broadcast agreements, worth roughly $76 billion over 11 years, have added pressure that could push the NFL's next deal significantly higher given its larger viewership.

If Goodell signs another three-year extension, he would be 71 by its conclusion, raising longer-term questions about succession planning. Late Colts owner Jim Irsay had previously floated splitting the commissioner's responsibilities into separate business and football-oriented roles following Goodell's eventual departure.

Goodell reflected on the league's direction when his 2023 extension was announced.

"There are a lot of challenges out there," said Goodell. "But there are also a lot of opportunities for us. And we're focused on how we make the NFL better every day, how we've become a global sport. I think some very exciting things are happening in that context. I feel really good about where the National Football League is today. But we don't sit around and tell ourselves that."

Goodell has never confirmed a retirement timeline despite past reports in 2017 suggesting he planned to step down by 2024.

"We'll see what the future holds," said Goodell in 2023. "I don't know. We'll see. So I'm not making any commitments other than, for the next three years, I'm going to bust my butt."

Owners elected Goodell commissioner in 2006, and he has remained a polarizing figure through controversies involving player discipline and league scandals, while also expanding the NFL's global footprint through international games. The Seahawks' pending sale price represents a 59 percent increase over the $6.05 billion paid for the Washington Commanders in 2023, the previous record for an NFL ownership change.