Sources - Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft have heated exchange amid Roger Goodell contract discussion

NEW YORK — NFL owners voted 31-1 on Tuesday to permit their compensation committee to open negotiations on a new contract with commissioner Roger Goodell, but not before two of the league's most powerful owners, the Dallas Cowboys' Jerry Jones and New England Patriots' Robert Kraft, engaged in a heated exchange, multiple league and ownership sources told ESPN.

The sources said Kraft joined the overwhelming majority in strong support for the measure, with Jones the lone dissenter in the owners-only session, eventually telling Kraft, «Don't f--- with me.»

Kraft replied, «Excuse me?»

«Don't mess with me,» Jones said.

The measure then passed, sources said. The NFL and a Cowboys spokesman declined comment. A Patriots spokesman didn't immediately provide a comment from the team.

This isn't the first time Jones has been outspoken and opposed to a new contract for Goodell, 63, and sources said his issue remains the same: the structure of Goodell's compensation. In 2017, Goodell signed a new five-year deal that was different from his previous ones. Jones led a charge that restructured Goodell's deal from mostly salaried to mostly bonuses based on performance. Several committees composed of owners determine whether they feel Goodell has met goals and targets.

Jones is concerned that the triggers for Goodell's proposed bonus pool in a new contract will be too vague and not connected to a strict set of financial goals and metrics without a more rigorous review, sources said. «He believes in corporate good governance and wants accountability on the financial goals tied to Roger's bonus,» said a league source familiar with Jones' thinking. «He is sensitive to awarding a big bonus to Roger before he performs and earns it.» The source