The last time NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell signed a contract extension, league spokesman Joe Lockhart said it would be Goodell’s last deal. Goodell quickly disputed that.

Before long, Lockhart was the former league spokesman.

Now that Goodell has another contract extension and has committed through March 2027, what happens when that deal ends?

Many assume Goodell will retire. And maybe he will. But what would he do at that point? He’ll be 68. He only ever wanted to be the NFL’s Commissioner. Why would he stop doing something he has perfected (as far as the owners are concerned, and that’s all that matters) while he’s still young enough to do it?

From the league’s perspective, it’s important to know whether Goodell will be staying or going. They need to line up a successor. Currently, stray names get mentioned from inside the building (Brian Rolapp, Troy Vincent) and outside it (Condi Rice, Kevin Warren). None have ever gotten real traction.

There’s a potential risk to being perceived as angling for the job, before Goodell is ready to relinquish it. Over the past decade, key executives have emerged as Commissioner material. Once a sufficient amount of buzz began to build, each executive ended up going the way of Lockhart.

At one point during the protracted process of doing Goodell’s current deal, it was suggested that he would be expected during that next contract to assist in the selection and grooming of the next Commissioner. What if he’s not willing to tie his hands by committing to a course of action that prevents him from continuing to run the show come 2027?

Regardless of whether Goodell is willing to go, the owners need to be thinking about life post-Roger. The next Commissioner will be only the NFL’s fourth since 1960. And, as Colts owner Jim Irsay suggested months ago, the NFL’s overall business interests could require both a Commissioner and a CEO, with the Commissioner running the football operation and the CEO serving as the primary leader of the total operation, from football to media to everything else the league is doing.