Every year, the NFL Players Association conducts “report cards” for all 32 NFL franchises, which provides insight in how players assess their team’s performance in various categories from training rooms, to locker rooms, to treatment of families and travel/food provided by teams.
However, the NFL owners have filed a grievance against the NFLPA, according to ESPN, that is asking the Players Association to stop conducting those report cards. . The grievance said “the exercise violates the collective bargaining agreement by airing public criticism of teams.”
The effort is being led by New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, who ironically graded out with a “F” from his players.
According to the report, a letter from the NFL’s management council to NFLPA general counsel Tom DePaso from August 2025 included claims from the league that the NFLPA’s annual report cards violate a CBA clause that says both NFL owners and the union must “use reasonable efforts to curtail public comments by club personnel or players which express criticism of any club, its coach, or its operation and policy.”
In the letter, the NFL asked the NFLPA to discontinue the report cards, claiming they air “public criticism of teams.”
However, after the NFLPA had “months of discussions” with the league about the report cards, it recently informed players of the NFL’s grievance and said it still plans to move forward with this year’s report card survey.
“We have responded to the grievance with our intention to fight against this action and continue what’s clearly become an effective tool for comparing workplace standards across the league and equipping you to make informed career decisions,” the NFLPA wrote in an email to players.
The NFLPA’s report card system seems to be an issue for owners, who don’t like getting exposed for being cheap.
