NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has reduced his salary to $0, and other league employees will be taking pay cuts or furloughs due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Goodell, who makes upward of $30 million a year from salaries and bonuses, voluntarily had his salary reduced this month, a person familiar with the move told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL had not announced the move publicly.
The league also is implementing tiered reductions in base salary, beginning with the pay period ending May 22. The reduction will be 5% for workers up to the manager's level, 7% for directors, 10% for vice presidents, 12% for senior vice presidents and 15% for executive vice presidents.
In a memo sent to league office staffers, Goodell also said no employee earning a base salary of less than $100,000 will be affected by these reductions, and no employee's salary will be reduced below $100,000 by the reductions.
"We hope that business conditions will improve and permit salaries to be returned to their current levels, although we do not know when that will be possible," Goodell said.
While the NFL has gone about business as usual with free agency and last week's draft - and currently is planning to play a full season beginning in September - it clearly is feeling the same economic pinch as other sports. Even as it extended its streaming deal with Amazon Prime for Thursday night games for another three years on Wednesday, the league was making in-house financial adjustments.
That means furloughs and adjustments to pension plans. The furlough program "for individuals in our workforce who are unable to substantially perform their duties from home and/or whose current workload has been significantly reduced," Goodell wrote, will become effective May 8.
Those being furloughed will be alerted in the next few days, and they will keep medical, dental and vision benefits, with the league paying the full cost of maintaining those benefits.
"It is important to remember that a furlough is not a termination," Goodell told league staffers. "We do not know how long a furlough will last, but we are hopeful that we will be able to return furloughed employees back to work within a few months."
Pension plan and other contributions will be reduced from 15% to 10% of eligible compensation and is a permanent change that takes effect July 1.
"The NFL is not immune to the economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is our obligation to take responsible steps to protect the business and manage through this crisis as effectively as possible," Goodell wrote.
"These decisions were difficult, and we know these measures will cause hardship for those impacted. I encourage everyone to continue to identify ways of operating more efficiently and reducing costs. If we do that, I believe that furloughs and compensation reductions can be limited, or in time even reversed.
"I assure you that we will continue to monitor economic conditions, communicate with you promptly and openly - whether the news is good or bad - and have your interests in mind as decisions are made going forward."
The NFL plans to release its regular-season schedule around the second week in May, and currently is allowing virtual workouts coordinated by teams. It has a meeting of team owners scheduled for the Los Angeles area in late May that likely will become a video conference instead.
Training camps wouldn't open before the end of July. The first major event of the summer would be the Pro Football Hall of Fame game on Aug. 6 in Canton, Ohio, and inductions on Aug. 8. All of those, of course, must be considered tentative at this time.
Falcons decline option on McKinley
FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga.- The Atlanta Falcons said they are taking a "wait-and-see approach" with defensive end Takk McKinley's future with the team.
The Falcons said they are declining their fifth-year option with McKinley for 2021 "at this time." If the team had exercised the fifth-year option, McKinley could have been an unrestricted free agent in 2022. Instead, he can become a free agent in 2021.
McKinley, a first-round pick in 2017, has 16.5 sacks through three seasons. He had 3.5 sacks in 14 games, including 13 starts, in 2019. He missed the final two games of the season with a shoulder injury. He has had surgeries to both shoulders.
McKinley will earn a base salary of $1.86 million in 2020 in the final year of his $10.2 million, four-year deal. The Falcons have left open the possibility of another deal with McKinley after the season.
The Falcons cut edge rusher Vic Beasley Jr. before signing free agent outside linebacker Dante Fowler to a $48 million, three-year contract. Fowler is expected to boost the team's weak pass rush.
The Falcons said in a statement released Wednesday that McKinley "has shown the ability to produce at a high level and we look forward to his production in 2020."
Former Jaguars linebacker arrested
Former Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Telvin Smith was arrested Wednesday on a charge of having sexual activity with a minor.
The 29-year-old Smith was booked into the Duval County Jail around 5 p.m. and released about five hours later on a $50,003 bond. He had no scheduled court date.
No details or police report was immediately available. According to Florida Statute 794.05, which was the listed charge in the jail log, unlawful sexual activity with certain minors is a second-degree felony and applies to any person age 24 or older who engages in sexual activity with a person 16 or 17 years old.
"The Jaguars are aware of the report involving former linebacker Telvin Smith," the team said in a statement. "The club is unable to comment further on this ongoing investigation."
Citing an anonymous law enforcement source, ESPN reported that Smith is accused of having sex with a 17-year-old girl multiple times, both at his home and in his vehicle, last August and September. The ESPN source said the victim told a friend and family member what happened after the first encounter with Smith. The source also said investigators found evidence in Smith's car linking him to the victim.
Jacksonville Sheriff's Office deputies were at Smith's home on Nov. 27, and his SUV was towed. He was not arrested then.
A fifth-round draft pick from Florida State in 2014 and a Pro Bowl selection in 2017, Smith announced last April he was stepping away from football to "get my world in order."
Smith has 586 total tackles with 445 solo tackles, nine interceptions, 7.5 sacks and five forced fumbles in five seasons in Jacksonville. He's one of only 13 players in NFL history to record 100 or more tackles in each of their first five years in the league.
He signed a four-year, $45 million extension in October 2017 that included $20 million guaranteed. He restructured that deal in March 2018, turning an $8 million roster bonus into a signing bonus to create extra cap space for the team. He walked away from $9.75 million last season and has three years remaining on his contract.