HEADLINES

Lloyd Howell

NFL Players Association Facing Potential Federal Probe Into Finances

July 25th, 2025 at 9:49pm CST by Ely Allen

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.

Lloyd Howell Resigns As NFLPA Executive Director

July 17th, 2025 at 10:10pm CST by Sam Robinson

The turmoil to engulf Lloyd Howell early in his term as NFLPA executive director will end up producing a sea change. Howell is resigning his post, via CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones.

This comes not long after the NFLPA issued a statement backing Howell amid a conflict-of-interest controversy and the recent fallout from the collusion grievance report. Howell had become an increasingly divisive figure in light of these developments, and Jones adds the union board plans to meet as soon as possible to determine a path forward.

“It’s clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day,” Howell said. “For this reason, I have informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I am stepping down as Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effective immediately. I hope this will allow the NFLPA to maintain its focus on its player members ahead of the upcoming season.”

While a forced resignation certainly would make sense as a logical conclusion to this swiftly developing story, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports Howell made the choice to move on rather than the union forcing him out. On Sunday, the executive committee released a statement that denied reports of unrest regarding Howell’s place as executive director. That now appears an ominous offering, as Howell is out four days later.

The NFLPA appealed an independent arbiter’s ruling that no definitive collusion occurred but did so only after the findings became public. The initial ruling was handed down in January, and a Pablo Torre June report — which unearthed Christopher Droney’s grievance ruling — in June indicated the NFLPA joined the NFL in wanting the findings to remain private. This appeared odd, seeing as Droney ruled the owners likely made a collective effort to limit guaranteed money in big-ticket quarterback contracts. Rather than launch an all-out crusade against the league, the Howell-led union stood down for months. The union’s appeal will be in new hands moving forward.

Torre reported the NFLPA wanted to keep ex-union president-turned-chief strategy officer J.C. Tretter‘s remarks about Russell Wilson‘s failed crusade to land a fully guaranteed Broncos contract concealed. Howell appointed Tretter as the chief strategy officer shortly after his term as president wrapped; linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin is the current NFLPA president. The latter will play a lead role in the union’s effort to determine Howell’s replacement.

More significantly in the Howell drama, a subsequent report revealed he had done consulting work for a firm approved to purchase a minority stake in a franchise. Howell earned $3.4MM consulting for The Carlyle Group in 2024. While Carlyle released a statement that attempted to distance Howell from the firm’s workings regarding a potential franchise stake purchase, Howell continuing to do work outside of his NFLPA role brought red flags by itself. Previous union heads were not believed to have worked outside jobs, let alone serving in roles posing clear conflicts of interest.

The NFLPA named Howell as DeMaurice Smith‘s successor in June 2023. At the time, this brought surprise due to Howell’s candidacy unfolding in secret. When the ESPN.com report regarding Howell’s involvement with Carlyle surfaced, it was not set to bring his tenure to a quick close. The two stories persisting became too much to overcome for Howell, who had taken the perch after 34 years at the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm. He concluded that tenure as the firm’s CFO.

Howell’s time at Booz Allen included a lawsuit alleging sexual discrimination and retaliation. Earlier today, a report from ESPN.com’s Don Van Natta and Kalyn Kahler indicated two executive committee members were unaware of the lawsuit when they voted Howell into the executive director post. Two other executive committee members, though, said (via Van Natta and Kahler) the board did know of the suit before the vote. (The 2011 lawsuit was ultimately settled.)

This marks a remarkably short tenure in the executive director position. Smith served 14 years in the position, steering the NFLPA through CBA talks in 2011 and 2020. Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw was in the position for 25 years. Ed Garvey was in place in this role from 1971-83. As the union prepares to navigate the NFL’s push for an 18-game schedule, it will look for a leader equipped to remain in the role for a lengthy term. Considering the secrecy that accompanied Howell’s election, it would surprise if the executive committee’s next search was not a much more transparent process.

NFLPA Leadership Backing Executive Director Lloyd Howell

July 13th, 2025 at 8:23pm CST by Sam Robinson

Lloyd Howell‘s tenure as the NFLPA’s executive director has run into choppy waters. As the prospect of an 18-game season looms, the staffer set to be tasked with shepherding those negotiations on the players’ side has seen multiple issues come up this offseason.

After a collusion grievance produced some eye-catching headlines, some of them shedding light on the quiet power transfer to Howell in 2023, DeMaurice Smith‘s successor has run into conflict-of-interest trouble. Howell has been working as a consultant for The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm approved by the league to pursue a minority ownership stake in an NFL team.

A recent report indicated a Change.org petition calling for Howell’s resignation had circulated among NFL players and NFLPA staff. Pushing back on that, NFLPA leadership released a statement backing its chief. The NFLPA allows player reps to remove the executive director with a two-thirds majority vote at a meeting with a two-thirds quorum, but with the executive committee holding the line for now, no change at the top of this pyramid is imminent.

“As members of the NFLPA Executive Committee, we categorically reject false reports insinuating doubts within this committee or suggestions that we have asked our Executive Director to step down,” the statement reads (via ESPN’s Adam Schefter). “We further reject attempts to mischaracterize the committee’s views or divide our membership. We have established a deliberate process to carefully assess the issues that have been raised and will not engage in a rush to judgement.

“We believe in and remain committed to working with our Executive Director and other members of NFLPA staff and player leadership who have a shared mission to advance the best interests of players. As we approach the 2025 season, we look forward to continuing our important work together and ensuring the strength and unity of our association.”

Howell received $3.4MM consulting for Carlyle in 2024, and although the firm (via an emailed statement) indicated Howell had “no access to information about the NFL and Carlyle process beyond public news reports,” the optics are obviously not ideal for the third-year union chief. Howell also received almost $700K from board positions at GE HealthCare and Moody’s, according to ESPN. This multi-front workload differs from previous NFLPA executive directors, who had neither outside jobs nor paid board seats during their respective tenures.

Smith was at the wheel when the NFLPA ratified the 2011 and 2020 CBAs, the second of those accords running through the 2030 season. Howell and NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin are unlikely to be in position to negotiate a new CBA for a few years at least. But Howell is positioned to be the union’s point man when that time comes. Based on the stakes, scrutiny from NFLPA ranks would be understandable.

The appeal of the recent grievance ruling — one that determined owners likely aimed to reduce guaranteed money in high-profile contracts (while stopping short of deeming collusion occurred) — surfaced days after veteran reporter Pablo Torre made the grievance findings public. The ruling came down in January, however, meaning it took the release of the report to prompt the union to act here.

Howell having quietly added former NFLPA president J.C. Tretter as the union’s chief strategy officer has drawn scrutiny due to the latter’s involvement in the Russell Wilson leg of the collusion grievance. Tretter not wanting his texts to Smith about Wilson being “a wuss” for not sticking to his ask for a fully guaranteed Broncos extension (in 2022) to be made public was believed to be a driving force behind an NFLPA effort to conceal the report’s findings.

Howell conducted a conference call with the executive committee (which includes 10 members and Reeves-Maybin) shortly after the ruling was made. He passed along the outcome of the case but did not mention specifics or distribute copies of the findings from Droney. The lack of transparency during the early part of Howell’s tenure has certainly generated questions about his leadership, especially as these developments have come after he was elected in relative secrecy in June 2023. As the appeal process begins, however, the NFLPA is sticking with the leader it tabbed.

NFLPA Exec Director Lloyd Howell Works For Private Equity Firm Seeking Stake In Team

July 11th, 2025 at 5:46pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

JULY 11: Howell does not plan on resigning in the wake of the recent controversy, Mark Maske and Nicki Jhabvala of the Washington Post report. For the time being at least, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio adds he is safe from potential efforts for a removal. That process will be long-running if it is sought, though, and efforts on the part of players and senior union leaders will be worth monitoring over the coming weeks.

JULY 10: NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell is under fire after a report by ESPN’s Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kalher that he has been working as a consultant for The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm approved by the league to pursue a minority ownership stake in an NFL team.

Howell began working at Carlyle in a part-time capacity in March 2023; three months later, he was hired by the NFLPA as the union’s principal administrative officer and chief player representative. In August 2024, Carlyle received league approval to invest in an NFL team via a minority stake worth up to 10%. Despite internal concerns by a senior union lawyer regarding a potential conflict of interest, Howell continued to work for Carlyle and received $3.4MM from the firm last year.

With the matter coming into the public eye, Howell will come under even more scrutiny amid criticism regarding the NFLPA’s handling of their collusion grievance against the league and an internal investigation of Howell’s leadership of the union. (The NFLPA has appealed the ruling on the collusion grievance after it, too, was made public.)

According to Pablo Torre of Pablo Finds Out, a Change.org petition calling for Howell’s resignation has been circulating among NFL players and NFLPA staff in the wake of today’s revelations. The NFLPA allows their player reps to remove the executive director with a two-thirds majority vote at a meeting with a two-thirds quorum, per Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio.

A Carlyle spokesperson insisted that Howell had no access in the firm’s activities related to the NFL and said that Howell had disclosed his work at the NFLPA to the firm but not the request by union lawyers for him to resign.

“Lloyd had no access to information about the NFL and Carlyle process beyond public news reports due to strict Carlyle information barriers in place,” according to an email statement from The Carlyle Group. “Carlyle was not aware of the request from union lawyers for Lloyd to resign from Carlyle.”

In addition to his compensation from Carlyle, Howell also received almost $700K from board positions at GE HealthCare and Moody’s, per ESPN. His pay for sitting on the board of ManTech, a company privately owned by Carlyle, is unknown.

Former NFLPA lead outside counsel Jim Quinn told ESPN that the union’s previous executive directors held neither outside jobs nor paid board seats during their tenure. Quinn characterized Howell’s position at Carlyle as an “outrageous conflict” and said that he would have expected Howell to resign upon being hired by the NFLPA.

NFL players have yet to publicly react to the latest news about Howell. Multiple members of the executive committee decline to comment on the collusion grievance confidentiality agreement, with Cameron Heyward calling the situation at the union “dicey.”

NFLPA To Appeal Collusion Ruling

July 9th, 2025 at 9:15pm CST by Adam La Rose

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.

NFLPA Pushes Back On Prospect Of 18-Game Season

February 5th, 2025 at 3:53pm CST by Nikhil Mehta

As expected, Roger Goodell‘s comments about an 18-game regular season have already drawn pushback from the NFL Players Association.

“The length of the season is a CBA negotiated matter, so any commentary outside of negotiation is just commentary,” said NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell (via The Athletic’s Mike Jones). “No one wants to play an 18th game. No one. 17 games to many of the guys is still too long.” 

That sentiment was echoed by NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin (via Mark Maske of The Pat McAfee Show):“I don’t think anyone was really in favor of going to 17 [games].”

Howell confirmed that neither the league nor the NFLPA have addressed the 18-game proposal in negotiations, per Maske. If and when formal talks begin, the players will have to consider several factors, including economic benefits, bye weeks, international travel, and roster size, before agreeing to another schedule expansion, according to Jones

Their fundamental objection will be the increased physical and mental burden of lengthening the already-grueling regular season. Despite Goodell’s promotion of the NFL’s healthy and safety measures, Howell argued that the league has not made enough progress in that arena to warrant an 18th game, per Jones.

However, the NFL seems determined to press on in its quest for an 18-game season, setting it up as a crucial issue for the 2030 CBA. Though, this issue is likely to be headed for true negotiations before that point. This will allow the NFLPA to seek important concessions in exchange for greenlighting a second schedule change in a decade.

Roger Goodell Aiming For 18-Game Schedule, 16 International Games

January 17th, 2025 at 10:52pm CST by Ely Allen

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently sat down to do an interview on Bloomberg TV for The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations. In the interview, Goodell touched on a number of recent topics including the league’s goals for an 18-game season and a 16-game slate of international games in a season.

Goodell approached the answer to a question about the 18-game season by claiming that “if (they) continue to focus on the safety” aspect of the game that 18 games could be the potential result. It’s a contradictory notion that Goodell attempts to justify with the suggestion of removing another preseason game to maintain “that 20-game framework.”

The idea that replacing a preseason game with a regular game is a simple solution disregards many issues that come along with it. In regard to safety, increased games results in increased stress to the body and a higher likelihood for injury. Especially when considering that preseason games hardly see extended time from main starting players, replacing preseason games for regular-season games is not a one-for-one return in regard to safety.

Additionally, coaches and player personnel staff utilize preseason games to help whittle the roster down to the eventual 53 players who will open the season on the team. Continuing to reduce the number of preseason games robs a large number of fringe players of playing opportunities to show that they deserve a roster spot, potentially diminishing the quality of play in the league by denying diamonds in the rough a chance to shine.

The only seeming benefit that would result from the extension of the season is that every player would receive an extra game check, increasing the value of their contracts. In reality, the benefit goes to team owners and the league, who will all see a revenue increase from replacing poor-performing preseason games with higher-stakes regular-season contests. With no risk to their own health and safety, the support of an 18-game season has been a no-brainer for the elite in league circles.

NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell, after going over superficial discussions with the NFL about the possibility of an 18-game season, spoke this past summer about concessions the players could seek in return for adding an 18th game. While overall compensation is the obvious one, other points of negotiation would include additional bye weeks, improved playing surfaces, and decreased travel, a contentious issue with the NFL’s insistence on expanding the game internationally. Not surprisingly, these are all health concerns for issues that could be further strained by an extension to the season.

While Goodell claims they would only move forward “with the players” on this decision, he calls it the “logical” next step. The situation feels like an inevitable transition from which the players will simply need to try to get whatever concessions they can.

On the topic of the international slate, Goodell confirmed recently mentioned plans to expand to 16 out-of-country games in a season. He has quickly pushed the slate from five such contests in 2024 to a confirmed eight in 2025. Increasing the number of games in a regular season to 18 would, in theory, make it easier to schedule 16 international games, but if the NFLPA decides to push back on the amount of travel in return for increasing the season, the league’s two goals could be working against each other.

Goodell did push back a bit on the possibility of expanding the league or relocating a team to an international site, though. While he does believe there are markets internationally that could sustain an NFL franchise, he cited issues with travel and competitiveness as hurdles in the execution. The notion a European franchise could spawn — or an American team could relocate — has not generated as much buzz over the past several years. Goodell’s latest remarks continue that trend.

He did project an idea that moving a division would make more sense than moving a single team. This solution would see three road games each year come with relatively short travel for those international teams, assuming they’re all in a close area like Europe. The remaining five or six road games would still require extensive travel, as would the travel for any teams visiting them. This would especially be an issue for any team whose schedule includes all four teams from the international division, requiring either two separate trips or one, long overseas trip to play those games.

The terms of the active collective bargaining agreement for the players are currently in place until 2030. Given the league’s quick work on the international slate, the owners’ eagerness to once again expand the NFL schedule, and Howell’s willingness to engage in early dialogue, it feels like a push for change is coming much sooner than that. Money talks, and if the NFL can alleviate the players’ concerns with promises of concessions, we may be watching a new-look season very soon.

NFLPA Director Lloyd Howell Addresses Potential Expansion To 18-Game Schedule

July 11th, 2024 at 2:47pm CST by Adam La Rose

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has publicly spoken on the subject of expanding the NFL’s regular season in recent months, bringing discussion of an 18-game schedule to the forefront. NFLPA director Lloyd Howell has been on the job for one year now, and he is open to discussing the matter well before the current CBA expires.

As things stand, an 18-game schedule could be implemented no earlier than the 2031 season. Significant support exists amongst the league’s owners to arrange for one preseason contest to be replaced by a regular season one well before that point, however. Knowing concessions will need to be made to the player’s union for such a move to be possible, Howell is open to negotiations taking place now to avoid any work stoppages.

“I’m glad Roger said 18. I’m glad that he’s leaning into international [games],” Howell said, via The Athletic’s Mike Jones (subscription required). “I think it gives our guys the opportunity to kind of get their thoughts together, get our position together, to say, ‘This is what and how we’re thinking about it.’

“It makes no economic sense for anyone to have a strike or a lockout. The world’s most popular sports league is going well. How do we keep that going? A lockout is an irrational thing. What’s more rational is, ‘Hey, if I could grow this two times, if I could grow this three times, then we should figure out what the agreements would need to be.’”

A number of issues will need to be addressed for traction to be gained on negotiations between owners and the NFLPA regarding an 18-game arrangement. Howell noted the handling of bye weeks – to little surprise, given the widespread expectation expansion could be accompanied by a second bye week – is one element where concessions could be required. Others include playing surfaces, travel related to international games and general player compensation.

In 2021, the NFL’s preseason schedule was reduced from four games to three in exchange for the regular season adding a 17th contest. That setup will remain in place for at least a fourth year, but if Howell and the player’s union are open to discussing further changes well in advance of the CBA’s expiration, an 18-game arrangement could be hammered out before the end of the decade.

Latest On Lloyd Howell, NFLPA’s Executive Director Search

June 30th, 2023 at 12:26pm CST by Adam La Rose

The NFLPA unveiled their new executive director on Wednesday, introducing Lloyd Howell as the leader tasked with overseeing the union moving forward. Details regarding his selection and expected start date have emerged.

Howell, 57, was not mentioned as one of the known candidates in the union’s search process for its DeMaurice Smith successor. Secrecy surrounded the build-up to Howell’s selection, and the identities of the other finalists voted on remains unknown. Of note, though, is the fact that ex-players Matt Schaub, Domonique Foxworth and Kellen Winslow Sr. were mentioned as names to watch, but the top position was once again given to someone with no playing experience.  

“You don’t need to be a former player to be able to motivate and galvanize a group of people,” president J.C. Tretter said, via The Athletic’s Zak Keefer (subscription required). “We were really looking for anybody that was capable of doing that, and we found a great one.”

Tretter added that the search process – which began in October – involved casting a “wide net,” and ultimately landed on Howell. The latter has no background in pro sports, and he has yet to meet with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, though that is expected to soon change. Howell declined to go in to specifics on his opinion regarding the current CBA, but he indicated his views with respect to the 2020 negotiations and the ones which will take place after the 2030 campaign helped earn him the position.

Veteran reporter Daniel Kaplan tweets that Howell’s start date is expected to be July 10, which will mark a quick transition from Smith to the new director. After the former won his most recent re-election with the minimum votes, it was expected his final term would be much shorter than his previous ones, which will be the case if Howell is in place by next month. The success he makes in integrating into the union and establishing new relations with the NFL will be a key factor when CBA talks take place and in the time leading up to that point.

Lloyd Howell Named NFLPA Executive Director

June 28th, 2023 at 11:16am CST by Sam Robinson

The foggy search for DeMaurice Smith‘s successor as NFLPA executive director is over. The union has a new leader. Lloyd Howell will succeed Smith, the NFLPA announced Wednesday (Twitter link).

Howell recently retired from his position as CFO with the Booz Allen Hamilton consulting firm. He spent 34 years with the company. Howell left his post in October of last year, with that move coming just as the NFLPA began its search to succeed Smith. The appointment came after a vote from the NFLPA’s board of player representatives, though Howell’s name had not been circulated during this months-long process.

Howell will step in as the fourth executive director of the NFLPA. Smith served in this capacity since 2009, while Hall of Fame guard Gene Upshaw held it from 1983-2008. Ed Garvey was in place in this role from 1971-83. While Upshaw starred for the Raiders, the NFLPA brought in Smith from outside the league to lead their efforts. The union will follow suit with Howell, a Penn alum who holds an MBA from Harvard. Howell certainly hovered off the NFL radar, but Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio notes Booz Allen has worked in NFL consulting matters in the past (Twitter link).

A number of players have expressed support for the Howell hire since the announcement, but Pro Football Talk’s Michael David Smith notes players were “in the dark” during this search. But Howell will be the choice to lead the way alongside NFLPA president J.C. Tretter. Smith’s term runs through 2024, though CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones notes (on Twitter) Howell could begin his leadership stay this year.

“It was important for us to run a process that lived up to the prestige of the position we sought to fill,” Tretter said in a statement. “The process was 100% player led and focused on leadership competency, skills and experience. Our union deserves strong leadership and a smooth transition, and we are confident Lloyd will make impactful advances on behalf of our membership.”

Richard Sherman, Calais Campbell, Alex Mack, Austin Ekeler, Ryan Kelly, Jason McCourty, Brandon McManus, Jalen Reeves-Maybin, Michael Thomas and Thomas Morstead joined Tretter in comprising the search committee. Smith faced off against the NFL owners during two collective bargaining agreement negotiations, producing deals in 2011 and 2020. The 2020 agreement runs through the 2030 season, meaning Wednesday’s appointment will not lead to near-future Howell-led negotiations.

While CBA talks will not be in the cards for a while, Howell will be in place to lead all other union-related matters. Howell also serves on the board at Moody’s Corporation and General Electric Healthcare. After a top-secret search led to Howell taking over, it will be interesting to see when his term begins and what changes come about in the weeks and months immediately after that transition commences.