NFL, union kept players in dark over key details from bombshell collusion decision

NFLPA leadership appears to have blocked critical information from the very players they serve to represent.

The league and senior leaders of the NFLPA struck an “unusual confidentiality agreement” that hid details of an arbitration agreement from players, including a discovery that the NFL management council pushed for teams to lower guarantees in player contracts, ESPN reported Wednesday.

In January, arbitrator Christopher Droney ruled there was no collusion between NFL owners to keep salaries down, but he did conclude that “by a clear preponderance of the evidence,” commissioner Roger Goodell and the league’s general counsel encouraged owners to restrict players’ guaranteed money in their contracts. 

That was part of a 61-page ruling, which was hidden by the confidentiality agreement until reporter Pablo Torre brought it to the public two weeks ago in an episode of his podcast, “Pablo Torre Finds Out.”

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Some players told ESPN they were “surprised by details in the ruling and didn’t understand why the union hadn’t shared the ruling with them.”

Tuesday night, the NFLPA, which is led by executive director Lloyd Howell Jr., reportedly opted to seek an appeal of Droney’s ruling — nearly six months after it was made. 

“The appeal is a reflection of our obligation to enforce the CBA and our commitment to protecting our players’ interests,” a senior union source told ESPN. “We’ll do what’s best for players and we’ll exhaust our options in doing so.”

Attorney Peter Ginsberg, a lawyer at Moskowitz Colson Ginsberg & Schulman who has represented several NFL players over many years, told ESPN: “By agreeing to a confidentiality agreement, the union purposefully blocked the players from receiving crucial information about the operations of the NFL.

“The NFL and the union should not be conspiring together to keep important information from the players.”

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The alleged collusion stems from a lawsuit in 2022, when the NFLPA claimed that the teams and league broke the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement by colluding to not offer players fully guaranteed contracts after Deshaun Watson signed his fully guaranteed $230 million deal with the Browns that March.

The lawsuit specifically focused on quarterbacks Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray and Russell Wilson, who each reportedly sought fully guaranteed deals. 

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None of the three signed guaranteed contracts, and the lawsuit called for damages and for the three quarterbacks’ contracts to be voided.

In his findings, Droney did not void the contracts or award any money to the NFLPA — even if he did determine that it seems the league urged its teams to act in a certain manner.