The NFL expects to have a revamped personal conduct policy — most likely with a lot less power in the hands of commissioner Roger Goodell — by the Super Bowl next February.
That was the biggest development to come out of the owners meeting Wednesday in lower Manhattan that marked the first time they had gathered in one place since last month when Goodell and the league were engulfed in the Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson controversies.
Speaking at a press conference that was much less dramatic than the one he held almost three weeks ago, Goodell revealed Wednesday that giving up power over the conduct policy he created in 2006 had been discussed by owners for "the last year."
That was surprising, as well as an indication that Goodell's mishandling of the Saints' bounty investigation — for which he was publicly rebuked by predecessor Paul Tagliabue — had made some powerful owners think the role of judge, jury and executioner in the area of off-field conduct was too much for Goodell.
With Goodell's credibility now lacking with the players union, control over the punishment phase of the conduct policy appears headed to an independent arbitrator.
"Everything is on the table — I said that several weeks ago," Goodell said when asked about giving up control over the conduct policy. "We discussed alternatives well in advance to this. Are there different alternatives that will make this [policy] more efficient or effective?"
As for changes to the specifics of the policy, those will have to wait until the new document is released. One of the NFL's new conduct consultants, former prosecutor Lisa Friel, briefed the owners on the possible policy changes — most of them involving domestic violence — on Wednesday morning.
Friel told reporters afterward the league still is trying to decide if all league players or personnel who are accused of crimes should be forced to take a leave of absence until their cases are adjudicated, as Peterson and Panthers linebacker Greg Hardy are doing currently.
Friel and Goodell also said the NFL is unsure if it should rely solely on law enforcement to investigate alleged crimes by its players and personnel or conduct its own probes. The new conduct policy could be announced around the same time as former FBI director Robert Mueller's investigation into the league's handling of Rice's punishment for assaulting his then-fiancée in February.
Giants co-owner John Mara, who is overseeing Mueller's probe along with Steelers chairman Art Rooney, said Wednesday he expects the investigation to take "several months."
Rice originally was suspended just two games by Goodell in August, then suspended indefinitely by the commissioner and cut by the Ravens after the graphic video of the attack surfaced on TMZ.
Rice has appealed the suspension, and his appeal is being heard by an outside arbitrator.
Goodell's botched handling of the entire Rice matter prompted calls for him to resign or the owners to fire him, but he appears to have weathered that storm.
The owners have maintained their support for Goodell, although none — not even such vocal backers as Mara and the Patriots' Robert Kraft — would speak about him Wednesday as they seemed to be operating under a league-wide gag order.
The meeting's only other notable item of business was formally approving the sale of the Bills to Buffalo natural gas magnate Terry Pegula for an NFL-record $1.4 billion.
The vote to approve Pegula, who also owns the NHL Sabres, was unanimous and completed in less than five minutes Wednesday morning.
It was followed by loud cheers from the meeting room.
"If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be the owner of the Bills and the Sabres, I would have called you a liar," Pegula said.
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