NFL Challenges Player Union’s Report Cards, Raising key Labor Rights Questions
NEW YORK – November 14, 2025 - A dispute between the National Football League and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) over the union’s player-authored team “report Cards” has escalated into a formal grievance, pitting the league against core labor protections enshrined in the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NFL argues the Report Cards, which grade teams on working conditions, violate a decades-old clause in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) intended too limit public criticism.The case hinges on whether that CBA clause constitutes a valid waiver of players’ rights to engage in concerted activity for mutual aid and protection under Section 7 of the NLRA.
The grievance stems from the NFLPA’s ongoing publication of Report Cards assessing NFL teams and their owners. These reports frequently assign failing grades (“F”) in various categories and are frequently enough accompanied by critical commentary, including anonymous player quotes. The NFLPA states the Report Cards aim to inform players about their working environments and incentivize improvements from clubs. Philadelphia Eagles player representative Jordan Mailata has asserted that teams have responded to the reports with approximately $200 to $300 million in facility investments.
The contested provision of the CBA, found in Section 6 of Article 51 (Miscellaneous), dates back to the 1970 agreement and remains largely unchanged. It states that the NFL and the Management Council “agree that each will 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, or which tend to cast discredit upon a Club, a player, or any other person involved in the operation of a Club, the NFL, the Management Council, or the NFLPA.”
The NFL brought the grievance after its requests for the NFLPA to cease publishing the Report Cards were ignored.
Legal experts suggest the central question is whether this CBA provision represents a “clear and unmistakable” waiver of players’ NLRA rights, as required by Supreme Court precedent. Courts of Appeal have interpreted this standard strictly, sometimes demanding explicit identification of the waived statutory provision within the CBA itself.
“It seems highly questionable that the provision in the NFL-NFLPA CBA is intended as a clear waiver of players’ rights to engage in concerted activity for their mutual aid and protection,” according to analysis of the situation. “in which case, it is indeed difficult to harmonize the restrictions in the CBA with the protections under the NLRA.”
An arbitrator will ultimately decide the matter, with the NFL reportedly seeking an expedited hearing before the next scheduled release of the Report Cards in february 2026. The outcome could have significant implications for the scope of player advocacy and the balance of power between the league and the union.
