It wasn't that long ago that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was being challenged by owners and facing a mini-coup led by Jerry Jones in the aftermath of Donald Trump's comments about protesting NFL players in 2016, but the business of football is booming and Goodell's approval ratings with his bosses are on the rise again.

Goodell has made significant early progress on a new collective bargaining agreement with the NFLPA that could be wrapped up in the next few weeks, television ratings have been back on the rise and there is immense excitement among owners about how robust the next round of broadcast contracts will be. There has been no serious movement towards a succession plan if in fact this is Goodell's final contract at the helm, and high-ranking sources with several clubs believe that there could be a push to retain him deeper into the future.

Goodell has told friends and associates in the past that he was considering leaving this post once the new broadcast deals are done, but several sources contacted this week said they would be surprised if Goodell does not at least see out this deal. Goodell's work negotiating the labor and television deals earned praise even among the owners who have least favored him in the past.

Getting these 32 groups to agree on a new leader is far from easy, and there is far more consensus right now about the job Goodell is doing then there would be about determining the optimal candidates to potentially replace him.

"The bottom line is these owners want him to stay," said one league source. "There isn't anyone being groomed to take over and they like where things stand. Even Jerry approves of where the game is, where it seems to be going."

The league will continue to push to try to secure a long-term labor pact with players before the final year of the current CBA begins in mid-March, and they already have a consensus with the union on many key issues in regards to a 17-game season. However, the chief issue, as always, remains the percentage of the overall revenues that are shared with the players, with negotiations ongoing.