Paperwork: NFL filed grievance in opposition to NFLPA to cease report playing cards

The NFL filed a grievance in opposition to the NFL Gamers Affiliation, asking the union to cease its annual crew report playing cards and saying the train violates the collective bargaining settlement by airing public criticism of groups, based on paperwork obtained by ESPN.

The league claims the report playing cards, which ballot gamers on varied elements of working circumstances, violate a CBA clause that claims NFL homeowners and the union should “use affordable efforts to curtail public feedback by membership personnel or gamers which specific criticism of any membership, its coach, or its operation and coverage,” based on an August letter from the league's administration council to NFLPA basic counsel Tom DePaso that was obtained by ESPN.

After months of discussions with the league after the letter, the NFLPA alerted its gamers of the grievance final week and stated it is “shifting forward with this yr's survey,” based on a union e mail obtained by ESPN.

“We've got responded to the grievance with our intention to combat in opposition to this motion and proceed what's clearly change into an efficient instrument for evaluating office requirements throughout the league and equipping you to make knowledgeable profession selections,” the NFLPA wrote in its e mail to gamers.

Each a union spokesperson and an NFL spokesperson declined to remark.

The union's annual crew report playing cards challenge grades — from A to F — to franchises on all the things from remedy of households to coaching workers.

Within the letter, the NFL's administration council, which handles labor points for the league, argues the NFL and union already conform to conduct a joint survey of gamers “concerning the adequacy of participant care and different related matters” each three years, per the CBA. The letter states that the corporate overseeing that survey has stated the union's report card train “adversely affected the reliability of the CBA-mandated survey.”

A supply with direct information of the league's course of stated that that survey was final carried out in 2015 and that officers from the league and union would meet confidentially with groups about particular areas of enchancment, with tangible outcomes.

The letter states that the NFL twice has requested the union to droop its report card survey — as soon as in 2024 and a second time in June of this yr — and that the NFLPA declined. Sources with direct information of the grievance advised ESPN that the league is attempting to have the problem heard by an arbitrator in December, with a hope of a choice by February 2026.

The union's e mail to gamers cited information that groups had improved working circumstances primarily based on the survey. It acknowledged that 9 groups improved their household providers rating — which incorporates childcare providers and stadium household rooms — by two or extra grades. It additionally acknowledged that 12 groups improved two or extra grades in journey scores.

Staff homeowners and executives advised ESPN that the subject of the report playing cards arose at a latest homeowners assembly, throughout a dialogue over what administration want to change in future CBAs. Possession sources advised ESPN that they worth the report playing cards however really feel that, as a result of the union points solely basic grades and never particular suggestions, they function an instrument to mock groups with out telling them which areas want enchancment.

“It may make you higher,” a crew govt advised ESPN, “however they do not share how. They simply take snippets to embarrass individuals with out sharing the information.”

In 2025, 1,695 gamers leaguewide responded to the surveys. The Minnesota Vikings and Miami Dolphins earned the highest marks for office surroundings, with Zygi Wilf of the Vikings, Stephen Ross of the Dolphins and Arthur Clean of the Atlanta Falcons receiving A-plus grades.

On the NFL league assembly in March, New York Jets chairman Woody Johnson — who together with Artwork Rooney of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Robert Kraft of the New England Patriots, Michael Bidwill of the Arizona Cardinals and David Tepper of the Carolina Panthers acquired possession grades of D or worse — referred to as the survey “completely bogus” and hinted that it violated the CBA.

Johnson stated he took challenge with “how they collected the knowledge [and] who they collected it from. [It] was imagined to be based on the settlement we've with the league. It is imagined to be a course of [where] we've representatives and so they have representatives, so we all know that it is an trustworthy survey.

“And that was violated, in my view. I'll depart it at that, however I believe there are quite a lot of homeowners that checked out that survey and stated this isn't truthful, it is not balanced, it is not each participant, it is not even consultant of the gamers.”

One proprietor advised ESPN that “the one homeowners who do not look after [the report cards] are those who get the subpar grades.”