NFLPA to appeal arbitration ruling on alleged collusion after new details emerge, per report

The NFL Players Association elected to pursue an appeal of a Jan. 14 arbitration ruling after it was found that senior NFLPA leadership struck a confidentiality agreement with the NFL to hide details of the arbitration decision, according to a report by ESPN. Among the key details that were concealed as part of the agreement were findings that league executives urged team owners to reduce guaranteed player compensation.

Although arbitrator Christopher Droney ruled on Jan. 14 that there was not sufficient evidence to suggest that owners colluded in contract negotiations with quarterbacks following the Cleveland Browns decision to give Deshaun Watson a record-setting, fully guaranteed contract in 2022, he concluded that the NFLPA had shown “by a clear preponderance of the evidence” that commissioner Roger Goodell and league general counsel Jeff Pash had urged owners to restrict guaranteed money in players’ contracts. Those details were kept secret until two weeks ago, when the “Pablo Torre Finds Out” podcast published the findings.

How language agreed upon by NFLPA cost it a verdict in collusion battle with NFL over fully guaranteed deals

Jonathan Jones

Under the terms of the confidentiality agreement, the 61-page arbitration ruling was only to be shared with league and union lawyers as well as a handful of senior union and league executives while the NFLPA considered its next legal move. NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. briefed the union’s executive committee that they had lost their grievance, but did not share any of Droney’s findings or copies of the ruling with players, instead allegedly blaming predecessor DeMaurice Smith for “wasting resources” on the legal battle.

According to ESPN, some players expressed surprise with the details in the ruling and also did not understand why the NFLPA hadn’t shared the ruling with them. Per the NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, members of the NFLPA’s executive committee and player reps have the right to receive copies of all arbitration rulings, but that did not happen at the NFLPA’s annual meeting in Hawaii in March. The CBA also states that appeals to arbitration rulings must be filed within 10 days, but sources told ESPN that the confidentiality agreement contained language that allowed the NFLPA time to exceed that deadline as well as give the league time to seek reimbursements of its legal costs.

The NFLPA did not answer questions Wednesday about why the decision to appeal took nearly six months or about the grounds of its appeal. The matter also further calls into question the leadership of Howell, who has reportedly become the subject of an inquiry into his activities since being named the NFLPA’s executive director in June 2023.