After dealing with high-profile off-field incidents involving running backs Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson this year, commissioner Roger Goodell indicated earlier in the season that the league intended to have a new personal conduct policy in place by the Super Bowl. However, a league source tells Adam Schefter of ESPN.com that a new policy isn’t as close to being finalized as had been hoped, and that the new policy may not be adopted until the new league year begins in March.
The NFL’s owners are meeting this Wednesday, and there was a belief that a new personal conduct policy would be reviewed and potentially voted on at that point. That’s what the NFL Players Association is expecting, according to union executive George Atallah, though he points out that there hasn’t been any collective bargaining since the NFLPA last met with the league in November about the issue (Twitter links). The NFLPA submitted a proposal to the NFL last month, but there’s been no indication of how seriously the league will weigh the union’s suggestions.
According to Albert Breer of NFL.com (via Twitter), the league at least has the outline of a new personal conduct policy ready to present to owners in Dallas this week. However, in a second tweet, Breer cautions that a vote won’t necessarily happen this week, and the proposal could still be reworked.
Among the points of contention for a new policy are Goodell’s role in the disciplinary process and how players will be disciplined during the legal process when they’ve been charged but not necessarily convicted.