Robert Kraft, John Mara Among Owners Named to NFL Chairmen's Committee

The National Football League reportedly created a new Chairmen's Committee this week that features five owners, who lead some of the league's most high-profile committees.

Mark Maske of the Washington Post reported the group—which had already been informally meeting with commissioner Roger Goodell—includes Robert Kraft (New England Patriots), Art Rooney II (Pittsburgh Steelers), John Mara (New York Giants), Clark Hunt (Kansas City Chiefs) and Robert McNair (Houston Texans).

The new committee isn't currently expected to take any official votes on issues facing the league. Instead, the owners being directly connected is supposed to streamline the process when it comes to "identifying the NFL's top priorities and helping to ensure key issues are coordinated among the committees," according to the report.

Although Kraft is a longtime friend of Goodell, his inclusion could come as a surprise given their public disagreement involving the Deflategate drama.

Gregg Rosenthal of the NFL.com noted in March that the Patriots' owner sent a letter to the commissioner asking him to reconsider his punishment of quarterback Tom Brady.

"I personally wrote a letter to the commissioner responding to his comment that if any new facts came up he would take them into consideration," Kraft said. "I personally believe that when the league made their decision they did not factor in the ideal gas law. They admitted that publicly last year."

Goodell opted against altering the four-game suspension. Last month, Brady confirmed he was ending his attempts to appeal the case and would sit out the start of the 2016 season.

Ultimately, including Kraft in the group of high-ranking advisers may be Goodell's effort to extend an olive branch to the Patriots' owner. His input is valuable after spending more than two decades as the leader of one of the league's most successful organizations.

Kraft and the other four owners selected represent a formidable group of key members in the NFL hierarchy. It will be interesting to see whether the new committee leads to any meaningful change after a tumultuous couple of years of the commissioner.