Darrelle Revis, Joe Briggs Among Potential Candidates For NFLPA’s Exec. Director Role
Lloyd Howell received a public show of support from the NFLPA not long before a growing list of scandals led to his resignation as the union’s executive director. Fellow key official J.C. Tretter departed shortly thereafter, creating two notable vacancies in leadership positions. 
Since then, David White has landed the executive director position on an interim basis. The search process for a permanent union leader is expected to begin soon, and White – having been the runner-up to Howell in 2023 – would make for a logical candidate regarding the full-time gig. No one has formally thrown their hat into the ring yet, but two potential candidates for the position have emerged.
Hall of Fame cornerback Darrelle Revis is a name to watch on this front, as first reported by Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Interest is indeed in place amongst some players and agents in Revis taking charge of the union, Mark Maske of the Washington Post confirms. The 40-year-old has been retired since 2018.
Over the course of his career, Revis demonstrated a willingness to hold out during contract talks. That is no doubt a factor which would be viewed as a positive from the union’s perspective with respect to CBA talks and other interactions with the league’s owners. Revis’ uncle Sean Gilbert once made a push to unseat DeMaurice Smith as the NFLPA’s executive director. Especially if emphasis is placed on hiring an ex-NFL player for the role, Revis’ interest will be worth monitoring.
Meanwhile, The Exhibit’s Josina Anderson notes that Joe Briggs’ name has also come up regarding candidates to replace Howell. Briggs has a lengthy legal background and has worked with the NFLPA by managing its financial programs department and later serving as the union’s public policy counsel; he was also the first person to lead the NFLPA’s government relations department. Briggs is currently a professor at Georgetown University.
NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin has made it clear representatives from all 32 teams will be involved in the voting process for a new full-time executive director when the time comes. It will be interesting to see if Revis and/or Briggs will be among the finalists to receive consideration.
NFLPA Names David White Interim Executive Director
Uncertainty has loomed over the immediate and long-term future of the NFLPA following the abrupt changes made in recent weeks. Following the resignations of both Lloyd Howell and J.C. Tretter, the search process began for an interim executive director.
That effort has now resulted in a hire. David White has been named the union’s new leader on an interim basis, per an NFLPA announcement. White is a former SAG-AFTRA executive director who is currently the CEO of 3CG Ventures, a coaching and strategic firm. In 2023, when Howell was elected, White was the only other finalist for the position (and was supported 10-1 by the NFLPA’s executive committee in a straw poll). After being the runner-up last time, he will take charge of the union for the time being.
“We have full faith in David to take the union forward and operate in the best interests of our membership,” a statement from NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin reads. “David has spent much of his career fighting for collectively bargained rights in the labor movement and is committed to putting players first in all the union does. We are confident that he will inspire solidarity and provide the necessary stability during this period of transition.”
The past two weeks saw a number of candidates interviewed for the position. Internal and external options received consideration, ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler report. NFLPA chief player officer Don Davis as well as former quarterback Charlie Batch were among the finalists for the interim role, per the report. Interestingly, the ESPN duo adds a recent league memo which contained the name of five finalists for the interim executive role did not include White.
Howell appeared to be in position to lead the union through negotiations on the next collective bargaining agreement. This offseason has witnessed a number of scandals, however, and it ultimately came as little surprise when he stepped down last month. Since that decision, attention has turned to an ongoing federal investigation into the actions of OneTeam Partners, the group co-founded by the NFL and MLB Players Associations and which Howell sat on the board of governors for prior to his resignation.
Specifically, the matter of passing a resolution which would allow for OneTeam governors to be paid for their services on the board – separate from their existing compensation – is the subject of scrutiny. The ongoing probe, as Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk details, could reveal details about efforts on the part of Howell and other board members to allow for payment (which does not currently take place). In any case, the past several months have seen Howell’s NFLPA tenure come to an abrupt end and he has also resigned from his consulting position at one of the private equity firms eligible to purchase a stake in an NFL team.
Representatives from all 32 teams took part in Sunday night’s vote to install White as Howell’s temporary replacement, per the ESPN report. The search for a permanent executive director will begin soon, according to Reeves-Maybin, and that process will also include representation from each team when a final vote takes place.
NFL Players Association Facing Potential Federal Probe Into Finances
The dust had barely begun to settle in the wake of Lloyd Howell and J.C. Tretter‘s resignations from the NFL Players Association. New leadership has not even been appointed. Still, controversy continues to toil in the players’ union as ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler report the existence of a federal criminal investigation into the NFLPA’s “potential misuse of funds and self-enrichment by union officials.” 
The news comes off of ESPN’s acquisition of a confidential document “marked ‘privileged’ and emblazoned with the union logo on each page.” The document was provided to several other sources and players and contains a memo drafted by a senior union attorney, titled “Crisis Management,” that outlines the scope of the investigation. The memo was provided to the NFLPA’s executive committee and player representatives earlier this week.
“Immediate threats” identified by the memo indicate how “potential action by the National Labor Relations Board over ‘unfair labor practices’ and a ‘lapse of fiduciary duty oversight practices during (the) Howell tenure'” could result in the union paying “direct or foreseeable pecuniary harms.” The document doesn’t identify which specific individuals are under criminal investigation, but Tretter denied being under investigation, while Howell did not respond to attempts by ESPN to reach him.
The document’s main point is summarized in this quote:
(The) government is watching (the NFLPA’s) response (and) could quickly ramp up and expand (the) scope of (the) existing (Department of Justice) criminal investigation. (The NFLPA’s) Board (and) Officers need to show (the) government (and) fellow union members that they are acting immediately to find out (the) depth of problems at (the) union (and) related entities.
Essentially, the document claims that eyes will be closely watching how the NFLPA settles on Howell’s successor. Howell’s appointment in the first place was the result of a 16-month process in determining DeMaurice Smith‘s successor, just for the former to resign disgraced by becoming “a distraction” because of his strip club charges to the union for over $3K and rumors of conflicts of interest and a culture of secrecy best represented by Howell’s confidential agreement with the NFL to keep the details of the arbitrator’s collusion ruling from the NFLPA’s executive committee and player representatives.
Howell has since resigned from his consulting role with the Carlyle Group, per Van Natta, and OneTeam Partners, a $2BB group-licensing firm co-founded by the NFL and MLB’s Players Associations on which Howell held a board seat, is under FBI investigation for its financial dealings.
NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin released a statement announcing the Association’s intention to hold a vote for an interim executive director earlier this week. Tretter was considered a frontrunner, along with NFLPA chief player officer Don Davis, before Tretter’s sudden resignation. Since then, several other names have been rumored as candidates.
Mike Florio of NBC Sports reported rumors of NFL Players, Inc. president Matt Curtin and NFLPA associate general counsel Chris Fawal being options. The document names Davis, NFLPA senior director of player affairs Lester Archambeau, NFLPA chief operating officer Teri Smith, former NFLPA president Dominique Foxworth, and Foxworth’s successor, former NFLPA president Eric Winston, as candidates, as well, in what it calls the union’s “triage plan.” Foxworth was also considered for the job during the 16-month process that led to Howell. ESPN even adds that multiple sources have identified Smith as the potential interim successor of his successor.
It’s believed that the 32 teams’ player representatives could choose an interim executive director as soon as this weekend. The document asserts that the interim director will serve as the “Triage Manager” and shouldn’t be required to abstain from running for the permanent job whenever that election occurs.
The document ultimately makes several other opinionated claims like the possibility that players may sue the union for the January collusion decision situation or that there should be improved oversight of an investment advisor for the NFLPA’s discretionary funds. In the end, it maintains its main assertion that the NFLPA must take “prudent and definitive actions” to fill the “leadership vacuum” in order to avoid federally ordered, court-supervised oversight of the union as a result of a federal criminal investigation.
J.C. Tretter To Resign From NFLPA
Instead of being a candidate to replace Lloyd Howell as the NFLPA’s executive director, J.C. Tretter will instead step aside from the union. The former NFLPA president said in an interview with CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones he will resign. 
“Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family. And that’s something I can’t deal with,” Tretter said. “So, the short bullet points are: I have no interest in being [executive director]. I have no interest in being considered; I’ve let the executive committee know that. I’m also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don’t have anything left to give the organization.”
Howell received backing from the NFLPA before, days later, deciding to step down. Tretter – who was a key figure in the Howell hire and the union’s actions during his tenure at the helm – has also emerged as the source of backlash with a number of revelations being made about his conduct. Currently the union’s chief strategy officer, Tretter was among the names listed as potential Howell replacements on an interim basis. Shortly after a meeting of player reps and the executive committee, however, things have changed.
“I love the guys [in the union], and that’s why I’ve done what I’ve done for the last six years is because I love what they do and who they are and the mission of the organization,” the 34-year-old added, noting he did not conceive a ploy to usurp Howell as the executive director. “And I think what I realized this morning when I woke up… is that I fell in love with the idea of what this place could be. And over the last six weeks, I’ve realized what this place is, and the delta between those two things.”
Tretter’s interview contains details about the process by which Howell was hired in 2023. A shift to a more streamlined vetting and interview process resulted in a hire shrouded in secrecy compared to previous ones. Tretter also noted the NFLPA’s executive voted 10-1 against Howell (with his vote being one of the 10) in a straw poll but decided not to mention it to the union’s general membership. Brought in with the hopes of leading the way through CBA talks, Howell’s tenure came to an abrupt end after revelations about his role in keeping collusion grievance findings hidden as well as conflict of interest concerns. Tretter’s connections to Howell (and thus the scandals) made him a target for scrutiny over the past few days.
Tretter expressed regret during the interview about his remarks made about Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson with respect his lack of a fully guaranteed contract. The former NFL center also offered an apology for his comments suggesting running backs could feign injury as a negotiating tactic. That spurred a grievance against the NFLPA which the league won and which resulted in the union firing the arbitrator involved in the case.
In a sign of the growing consternation over his presence in the organization, Tretter added he feels many of the “attacks” he has received in recent weeks have come from within the NFLPA. With the union seeking a new leader, Tretter will not take part in the search process nor will he stay on in any capacity.
J.C. Tretter, Don Davis Are Frontrunners For Interim NFLPA Exec. Director
July 20: Many training camps around the league open on Tuesday, and the NFLPA is expected to vote on an interim executive director by then, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
July 19: The NFLPA is continuing to navigate the fallout of a series of revelations about executive director Lloyd Howell and his subsequent resignation.
The union’s 32 player representatives met on Friday night to discuss the next steps regarding Howell’s now-vacant position. Two current NFLPA leaders emerged as frontrunners, according to The Athletic’s Diana Russini: Chief Strategy Officer J.C. Tretter and Chief Player Officer Don Davis. Also gaining some support among players is retiring NFLPA general counsel Tom DePaso, per Mark Maske of The Washington Post.
Tretter and Davis are both former players, which will help them gain credibility among the union’s active membership. Tretter lined up at center for the Packers and the Browns across eight NFL seasons, while Davis played linebacker for four teams across 11 years and earned two back-to-back Super Bowl rings with the Patriots in 2003 and 2004.
Tretter also has experience leading the union after serving as NFLPA president for two terms. He was elected in March 2020 and helped close out collective bargaining negotiations with the league. One month later, the NFL was facing an uncertain future due to the coronavirus pandemic. Tretter became the co-chair of the NFLPA’s COVID committee and helped the union navigate the 2020 season. It was widely considered a success with a full 256-game schedule and minimal, contained outbreaks. Tretter then won re-election in 2022, but his second term could be a vulnerability due to his involvement with several major issues facing the union. Two of those issues – hiring Howell in 2023 and suppressing two arbitration rulings – were part of Tretter’s effort to ascend to the top of the union’s leadership structure, according to Pablo Torre of Pablo Finds Out.
The 34-year-old currently has a “majority of support,” per Russini, but there is a growing movement among players to move on from Tretter’s leadership along with Howell. Some are even exploring legal action against the NFLPA and Tretter specifically, “citing potential violations around inclusion, labor rights, and misuse of union funds,” according to Russini. A text criticizing Tretter’s leadership circulated between players during last night’s meeting, per Ben Volin of the Boston Globe.
Davis, who has overseen player affairs at the NFLPA for more than a decade, is Tretter’s main competition for the interim executive director role. He is considered the “No. 1 internal candidate,” per CBS Sports Jonathan Jones, and is already receiving support from players, according to both Russini and Maske. (Colts wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr. has already expressed his support for Davis on social media.)
After he retired from playing in 2006, Davis joined the Patriots’ strength and conditioning staff and later became the team chaplain. He joined the NFLPA as director of player affairs in 2010, according to his LinkedIn, and was promoted to senior director in 2015 and Chief Player Officer this past April. Davis could also be a candidate for the permanent executive director job, per Jones.
DePaso, the union’s retiring general counsel who briefly played for the Bengals, is another name that has been mentioned by players as a candidate. There is also precedent for the union’s general counsel to serve as interim executive director. The last time the NFLPA needed an interim executive director was 2008, when Gene Upshaw died in office. Then-general counsel Richard Berthelsen served as Upshaw’s interim replacement until DeMaurice Smith was hired, according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk.
Howell was just hired in 2023 and past executive directors have typically served more than a decade, so the union was not prepared to start another search process right away. Finalists in the last process are unlikely to re-emerge, according to Jones, as players will be seeking a leader they can trust. The union will be looking for experience, either within the NFL as a player or with labor management more generally. The NFLPA currently has no timetable for selecting a permanent executive director, per Russini, and whoever is tapped as the interim is not expected to be promoted to the full-time role.
It’s also worth noting that many players are not fully up to date on the multitude of issues now facing the NFLPA. Much of last night’s meeting was about answering questions and clarifying information, according to Russini. Awareness will continue to spread around the league, especially as teams reunite for training camp. The union’s next priority will be selecting an interim leader before kicking off what will likely be a revamped, more thorough search process for a permanent executive director.
NFL Won Grievance Over NFLPA On J.C. Tretter’s RB Injury Remarks
Much has been made recently about the collusion grievance filed by the NFLPA against the NFL and the fallout from an arbitrator’s findings on the case being made public. Another case between the two has likewise recently come to light.
Former Packers and Browns center J.C. Tretter – who served as NFLPA president before occupying his current role as chief strategy officer for the union – spoke two years ago about the state of the running back market. Given the flat financial growth seen at the position at that point, Tretter openly remarked about the possibility of players fabricating and/or exaggerating injuries to help their negotiating position. The NFL filed a grievance over the matter; the details of the case were revealed during the latest collaboration between Pablo Torre of the Pablo Finds Out podcast and Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio (video link).
The NFLPA offered a statement to Florio noting how no evidence was found that running backs (or other players) faked an injury. A number of high-profile running backs met virtually to discuss their options regarding leverage in contract negotiations in the wake of Tretter’s remarks. Despite that fact no action was taken in terms of false claims related to injuries, the league ended up winning the grievance since Tretter violated the CBA with his comments.
“The Arbitrator upheld the Management Council’s grievance in its entirety and found that Mr. Tretter’s statements violated the CBA by improperly encouraging players to fake injury,” a league statement supplied to Florio reads in part. “As a result, he prohibited Mr. Tretter and the union from such conduct in the future. The NFL did not allege that any individual player ever feigned injury.”
As was the case in the collusion grievance, nothing from the February 2025 ruling was made public by either side. While a subsequent statement from the league says (via Florio) teams were informed of the grievance during the spring, a general manager contacted by Florio about the matter was met with a puzzled response. The lack of public knowledge on the Tretter case came about in the wake of the joint decision by the league and union to keep the collusion findings secret for several months.
In more recent news, Sidney Moreland – the arbitrator overseeing non-injury grievance cases, including the Tretter one – has been fired by the NFLPA. The move (first reported by Sportico’s Michael McCann and Eben Novy-Williams) is permitted by the CBA, which allows the league or union to dismiss arbitrators since they are jointly appointed. Per the report, the decision to fire Moreland was not related to the recent revelations about the Tretter case.
Nevertheless, this latest news adds further to the attention the NFLPA has received recently. The union will no doubt remain in the spotlight as its search for a new executive director unfolds in the wake of Lloyd Howell‘s resignation. Tretter is still in place as a key figure in the organization, although it remains to be seen at this point if he will emerge as a candidate to replace Howell.
NFLPA Board Of Player Reps To Meet After Latest Lloyd Howell Revelations
The NFLPA’s board of player representatives is meeting tonight after the resignation of executive director Lloyd Howell amid multiple controversies, according to Mark Maske of The Washington Post.
All 32 teams have one player representative and three alternates who are selected by their teammates every other year. They are likely to be joined by the NFLPA’s player-led executive committee as well as other union executives.
Howell has come under scrutiny in recent weeks due to his handling of the union’s collusion grievance against the NFL, a potential conflict of interest from his consultant gig at a private equity firm, and a revelations about sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit during his time at Booz Allen Hamilton.
Howell’s resignation was also triggered by questions about his use of union funds, according to ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler. An outside investigator reportedly found that Howell submitted expense reports for transportation and cash withdrawals at strip clubs, including $2,426 in charges during this year’s NFLPA summit in Atlanta in February, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. Howell was accompanied by two union employees and submitted the outing as a “Player Engagement Event to support & grow our Union.”
Howell faced similar accusations of misused company funds while working for Booz Allen in 2015, per Van Natta and Kahler.. A colleague submitted an expense report for a strip club visit – while he was still a defendant in the aforementioned lawsuit, which was later settled.
The FBI has also been investigating the NFLPA (as well as the MLBPA) due to their dealings with OneTeam Partners, a multibillion-dollar group-licensing firm, as originally reported by Van Natta and his ESPN colleague, Jeff Passan. That led to an ongoing internal union investigation into Howell’s leadership, led by attorney Ronald C. Machen of Wilmer Hale, according to Van Natta and Kahler.
NFLPA To Appeal Collusion Ruling
In January, arbitrator Christopher Droney issued a ruling on the NFLPA’s collusion case filed against the NFL. Details of that decision were revealed two weeks ago after both parties agreed to suppress the findings.
The league and union struck a confidentiality agreement in an attempt to keep Droney’s ruling secret, ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kayln Kahler report. Things changed when an investigation from Pablo Torre Finds Out published a 61-page document detailing a portion of Droney’s findings. In the wake of the collusion case’s outcome becoming public knowledge, some players have expressed surprise at the union’s role in agreeing to bury it.
This situation has now taken another interesting turn. NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell decided last night to appeal the ruling – which stated the NFL did not engage in collusion but also that teams were “urged” to restrict guarantees in player contracts – per the ESPN report. The CBA dictates appeals be made within 10 days of a ruling such as this being made, but one of the terms of the confidentiality agreement was that the Players Association would be able to file an appeal well after that period.
“The appeal is a reflection of our obligation to enforce the CBA and our commitment to protecting our players’ interests,” a senior NFLPA source told ESPN about the appeal decision. “We’ll do what’s best for players and we’ll exhaust our options in doing so.”
In the aftermath of the Droney ruling being published, it was reported players would consider their legal options. It was unclear if that would include civil suits being filed against the league based on the details of the case or against the union for its decision to keep the findings away from its members. As the ESPN report notes, DeMaurice Smith‘s tenure as NFLPA executive director regularly included the sharing of key information with the union’s executive committee and its 32 player representatives.
Howell conducted a conference call with the executive committee (which includes 10 members along with president Jalen Reeves-Maybin) shortly after the ruling was made, per the ESPN report. He passed along the outcome of the case but did not mention specifics or distribute copies of the findings from Droney, who was aware of the confidentiality agreement. Per the CBA, executive committee members and player reps have the right to obtain copies of all arbitration findings, but this unusual set of circumstances resulted in that not taking place in this case.
The grounds on which the pending appeal will be made are unclear at this point. The case – which began during Smith’s tenure and which Howell lamented for its usage of union resources once it ended – was founded on the fact Deshaun Watson‘s fully guaranteed Browns pact did not serve as a new precedent for QB deals. Specifically, Russell Wilson (Broncos), Kyler Murray (Cardinals) and Lamar Jackson (Ravens) were cited as examples of other NFL teams agreeing to avoid guaranteeing mega-extensions in full. Wilson and Jackson are known to have sought deals featuring fully locked in salaries, while Murray was the subject of communication between the Cardinals and Chargers’ owners before Justin Herbert inked his own extension.
The ESPN report adds that Howell’s leadership is currently under scrutiny. A special committee of players and an attorney hired last month are in the process of reviewing Howell’s tenure at the helm of the union. Executive committee member Cameron Heyward declined to comment on the appeal news but described the current NFLPA situation as “dicey.”
No timeline is in place at this point regarding when an appeal will be heard. In any case, further updates to this situation can be expected as the fallout from not only the ruling but the efforts to keep it hidden from players continues.
No Formal Discussions Imminent Regarding 18-Game Schedule
It has long been viewed as an inevitability that the NFL will expand to an 18-game regular season. An adjustment to the CBA will be required for that to be possible, and as such an agreement involving the NFL and NFLPA will need to be negotiated. 
Informal talks on the subject of reducing the preseason to two games and adding an 18th regular season contest have taken place between the league and union already. In part due to those discussions, some have pointed to 2027 or 2028 as the point at which an expanded schedule could be implemented. The current CBA runs through 2030, but new media rights deals – and thus the main source of another pending surge in revenues – will be in place by then.
Commissioner Roger Goodell said this spring that no formal discussions are planned about CBA adjustments or extensions. To little surprise, then, Mark Maske of the Washington Post reports no serious talks related to the schedule are expected to commence until at least early 2026. Any concession on the part of the union would of course be tied to negotiations on other fronts. Topics such as travel, playing surfaces and the addition of a second bye week have been mentioned as key issues for the NFLPA.
Maske names the period after the 2026 league meeting as a point at which negotiations could pick up. In any case, the nature of talks on this front will make for a notable storyline as efforts on the league’s part continue to expand the regular season schedule. Per Maske, Goodell has not yet “pressed” the union to accelerate discussions, although the NFL’s goals regarding a broader international schedule in particular are of course well known.
Adding an 18th game would likely pave the way for a slate of 16 international contests each regular season. Other matters will no doubt be tied to movement on this front, so a number of key CBA-related issues will be affected if/when an agreement can be reached between the league and union. The timeline for such talks is currently uncertain, though.
NFL Contract Notes: OL Award, Olympics, Rookie Bonuses, Collusion
MAY 24: Protector of the Year will be determined by a prestigious panel of former NFL offensive linemen based on the following five criteria (via Ben Volin of the Boston Globe): “skills, metrics, impact, leadership, ability, and strength of the opponents.”
Whitworth, who helped developed the award, will be on the panel. It also includes Orlando Pace and Will Shields, who are already in the Hall of Fame, and Jason Kelce, who is all but certain to join them once he’s eligible. The last two members, LeCharles Bentley and Shaun O’Hara, are less legendary offensive linemen, but both earned at least two Pro Bowls in their career and have remained connected with the league since their retirement.
MAY 23: The NFL is creating a new end-of-year award for offensive linemen called Protector of the Year, according to ESPN’s Brooke Pryor. Troy Vincent, the league’s executive vice president of football operations, said that current Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins and former Rams and Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth were key advocates for establishing the new honor.
Protector of the Year will be a welcome addition to the NFL’s annual awards season, which has largely focused on quarterbacks for Most Valuable Player and skill positions for Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year. Offensive linemen typically have to settle for for Pro Bowl or All-Pro nods, as they almost never contend for the main awards slate despite their impact on the field.
It’s unclear if Protector of the Year will have any more value for its recipients than league-wide recognition. The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement only allows specific awards to be used as player incentives in contracts, as noted by OverTheCap’s Nick Korte. The new award is not listed in the current CBA and could only be added if the NFLPA agrees.
Here is the latest news pertaining to contracts from around the league:
- The NFLPA will also have to navigate player participation in flag football at the 2028 Olympics, which owners unanimously approved earlier this week. “We look forward to working with the league, IFAF, and Olympic authorities on the terms of their participation to ensure players who compete will do so with protections to their health, safety, and job,” said NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell in a statement (via Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio). Those protections will be central to negotiations between the league and its players, who want to play in the Olympics without losing the financial security of their contracts.
- NFL rookies are receiving significantly larger signing bonuses in 2025 compared to previous years, according to CBS Sports’ Joel Corry. For example, No. 3 pick Abdul Carter received a $29.5MM signing bonus from the Giants, more than Caleb Williams got from the Bears as the first overall pick last year. Fourth and fifth overall picks Will Campbell and Mason Graham are also expected to surpass Williams’ signing bonus when they put pen to paper on their first pro contracts. The league’s undrafted rookie reservation – each team’s pool of signing bonus money for UDFAs – went up to $206K this year, a more-than 25% increase from 2024, per Corry. Teams have rarely used up all of their UDFA bonus money, instead preferring to guarantee base salary with offsets if a player is waived and signed by another team, according to OverTheCap’s Jason Fitzgerald.
- The NFLPA’s collusion grievance against the NFL regarding fully-guaranteed contracts for quarterbacks has been resolved, according to Florio. An arbitrator found that the league “encouraged teams not to do guaranteed contracts,” but that did not result in a significant impact on players – namely, Lamar Jackson, Russell Wilson, and Kyler Murray. In short, the ruling indicates that the NFL did engage in collusion to avoid fully-guaranteed contracts, but those efforts did not hurt players enough to trigger damages.