Roger Goodell: USA Football will select Olympic flag football rosters, not NFL

While the NFL has approved active players to participate in the 2028 Summer Olympic flag football tournament in Los Angeles, commissioner Roger Goodell made it clear that the NFL will not determine which players will compete for the United States.

Rather, Goodell said during this week’s meeting of league owners, the roster selection will come down to a separate group: USA Football.

“That’s actually a function of USA Football that will be making that decision,” Goodell said. “The NFL will not have any involvement in that selection process.”

BREAKING!

NFL Clubs approve players participating in Flag Football in the 2028 Olympics. pic.twitter.com/SU55XmBHkH

— Olivia Garvey (@OliviaNBCLA) May 20, 2025

More on USA flag football in the Olympics

According to USA Football bylaws, Goodell will appoint three individuals to the 15-member board with at least two of them serving on the five-person executive committee.

This all comes just a few days after NFL owners unanimously voting in favor of allowing active players to compete in flag football at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. No more than one player from each NFL team will be able to participate in the games, which will feature six men’s teams and six women’s teams consisting of 10 players apiece.

“I know first-hand that the inclusion of flag football in the Olympics has sparked a tremendous amount of excitement among NFL players interested in the chance to compete for their country on the world stage,” Goodell said at the time. “We are thrilled that they will now have that chance.”

The 2028 Summer Games are scheduled to take place from July 14-30, 2028. NFL players generally are off from mid-June until the start of training camp in late July.

–Field Level Media

More NFL content from Sactown Sports

The Las Vegas Raiders signed AJ Cole to a four-year, $15.8 million extension to make him the highest-paid punter in the NFL, Fox Sports reported Monday.

The agreement adds four seasons onto the final year Cole had on his existing deal and it includes $11 million guaranteed, according to the report.

Cole confirmed the news in a quote tweet that read, “raider nation for life !!!!!”

AJ Cole was named to three straight Pro Bowls from 2021-23 and earned first-team All-Pro recognition in 2021 and 2023. He had the longest punt of the 2023 season at 83 yards.

In six seasons for the Oakland/Las Vegas franchise, AJ Cole has appeared in 100 games and averaged 48.6 yards per punt on 374 attempts. Only 30 of those punts went for touchbacks. He’s averaged at least 50 yards per punt in three of the last four seasons.

Raiders make AJ Cole highest-paid punter in NFL

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