Owners opt to keep Tagliabue, look to negotiate new TV deal

PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- With several key issues on the NFL's agenda in the next few years, league owners want Paul Tagliabue around.
Tagliabue will be offered a contract extension of as long as three years, Steelers owner Dan Rooney said Monday at the NFL meetings. The 32 owners agreed unanimously to lock up Tagliabue, 63, beyond the May 2005 expiration of his current contract, which pays him about $5 million a year.
He's expected to get about $8 million a year under the new deal.
"He's taken the league to a new level," Rooney said of Tagliabue, who replaced Pete Rozelle in 1989. "The television situation is phenomenal, the relationship with the players union is great. We're entering an important period and we want him to continue to lead us through it. It's obvious what we think of him."
Among the upcoming matters the league faces are negotiations for a new network television contract -- the current eight-year, $17.6 billion deal expires after the 2005 season -- and an extension of the collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Players Association.
Upcoming votes
In the next two days, the owners will vote on three proposals to keep instant replay as an officiating aid: A renewal of the current coaches' challenge rule for five years, permanent renewal of the current system, or permanent renewal, with an additional challenge given to a team that makes two successful challenges.
Several other rules changes will be voted on either today or Wednesday.
Changing overtime to allow both teams a possession is unlikely to be approved. The competition committee doesn't favor it.
The committee also recommended instituting 15-yard penalties for choreographed celebrations and suggested some minor changes to the fair catch rule that will eliminate any returns by the receiving team once the signal is made.
An expansion of the playoffs from 12 to 14 teams won't be on the agenda after Kansas City withdrew the proposal. Although many coaches said they favor the idea, the Chiefs felt there wasn't enough support among the owners, and the competition committee was strongly opposed.