Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones denied an ESPN report that he's been holding up a contract extension for National Football League commissioner Roger Goodell.

“All of that is without any substance at all,” Jones told Clarence Hill of The Fort Worth Telegram after the team's 42-17 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday. “The exercise of looking and extending our commissioner’s contract is one that we keep really in tight. There are certainly exaggerations there. That’s not the way that works. I’ve always supported Roger and let’s just leave it at that. I wouldn’t get into the nuances and deny anything that was written, whether it was true or not.”

Adam Schefter and Chris Mortensen reported on Sunday that Jones dragging his feet - presumably over the league's handling of the Ezekiel Elliott investigation - on the extension was the reason as to why it had yet to be signed.

"If not for Jerry," a source told Mortensen, "this deal would be done."

Jones insisted that the situation with Elliott had no bearing at all on contract talks with Goodell.

“I could understand why ironically we’ve got the Zeke issue at the same time that we’re looking at extending Roger’s contract, that he made the ruling,” Jones said. “I see that. But every day I deal with conflicts of interest and he deals with it, the commissioner deals with it every day. You just have to get used to that. You look at the issue as the issue.”

ESPN reports that a compensation committee conference call will be held on Wednesday where the extension for Goodell could be discussed in concrete terms.