Looking to move past an uproar over player protests, the N.F.L. has signed a deal with the rap star and impresario Jay-Z to gain a foothold in the music business and a seal of approval from one of the country’s biggest African-American celebrities for its social justice efforts.

The deal, with Roc Nation, the rapper’s entertainment and sports company, calls for the firm to be the N.F.L.’s “live music entertainment strategist.” In that role, Roc Nation and Jay-Z will consult on entertainment, including the Super Bowl halftime show, and contribute to the league’s activism campaign, Inspire Change.

The N.F.L. is keen to portray the deal as a way to bring more high-profile entertainers to its events. It also represents an effort to quiet the long-running controversy over its handling of players kneeling or sitting during the national anthem — most notably involving Colin Kaepernick, the former San Francisco 49ers quarterback — and to form a bond with one of its most influential critics.

“The N.F.L. has a great big platform, and it has to be all-inclusive,” Jay-Z said in an interview this week at Roc Nation’s headquarters in Manhattan. “They were willing to do some things, to make some changes, that we can do some good.”