Los Angeles (AFP) – Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has agreed to pay the National Football League more than $2 million in legal fees, heading off the prospect of another potentially costly confrontation with the league, it was confirmed Wednesday.
Jones had been facing a multi-million-dollar fine from the NFL in the latest twist to the feud between the league and the influential billionaire owner of the Cowboys.
The New York Times reported last month that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was readying a fine after being urged to sanction Jones by fellow team owners.
Jones and Goodell clashed repeatedly in 2017, with the Cowboys owner furious at a six-game suspension imposed against running back Ezekiel Elliott for a domestic violence case.
Elliott fought the suspension in a protracted legal battle before eventually admitting defeat and accepting the ban in December.
Cowboys owner Jones meanwhile retaliated by seeking to delay confirmation of a new five-year contract for Goodell which had been previously agreed by the league’s compensation committee.
Jones had threatened to sue the six other team owners on the committee if Goodell’s contract was approved.
An NFL spokesperson quoted on the league’s website confirmed Jones had agreed to reimburse the $2 million in legal fees incurred by the league in connection to the Elliott suspension appeal and row over Goodell’s contract.
The spokersperson said the dispute had been “resolved to the satisfaction of all parties.”
The agreement came after Jones attended a hearing before Goodell and the league’s finance committee in West Palm Beach, Florida on Monday.
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