NFL Challenges Playerโ Union’s Report Cards, Raising key Labor Rights Questions
NEW โขYORK – November 14, 2025 -โ A dispute between the โNational Football โคLeague and the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) over the union’s player-authored teamโฃ “report Cards” has escalated into a formal grievance,โ pitting โthe โขleague against core labor โคprotections enshrined in the Nationalโ Labor Relations Act (NLRA). The NFL argues the Reportโฃ Cards, which grade โฃteams โon working conditions, violate a decades-old clause in the Collective โBargaining Agreement (CBA) intended tooโ limit โขpublic criticism.The caseโค hinges on whether that CBA clause constitutes aโฃ valid waiver of players’ rights to engage in concerted activity โขfor โmutual โaid and protection under โSection 7 of the NLRA.
The โgrievance stems from the NFLPA’s ongoing publication ofโฃ Report Cards assessing โNFL teams and their owners. These reports frequently assign failing grades (“F”)โฃ in various categoriesโข and are frequently enough accompanied by critical commentary,โข including anonymous โฃplayerโ quotes. The NFLPA states the โคReport โขCards aim to inform players โabout their working environments and incentivize improvements from clubs. Philadelphia โEagles player representative Jordan Mailataโ has asserted that teams have responded to the reports with approximately $200 to โ$300โ million in facility investments.
The contested provision of the CBA, found in Section 6 of Articleโฃ 51 (Miscellaneous), dates backโค to the โค1970 agreement andโข remains largelyโค unchanged. โIt statesโ that the NFL and the Management Council “agree that each will use reasonable efforts to curtail public comments by Club personnel โor players โwhichโ express criticism of any club,โฃ its coach, or itsโ operationโฃ and policy, or which tend to cast โคdiscredit uponโ a Club, a player, or any other person involved in the operation of a Club, the NFL, โฃthe Management Council, โor the NFLPA.”
The NFL brought the grievance โขafter its requests forโ theโฃ NFLPA to โcease publishing the Report Cards were ignored.
Legal โขexperts suggest the central question is โคwhether thisโค CBA provision represents a “clear and unmistakable” waiver of players’ NLRA rights,โ asโ required byโ Supreme Court precedent. Courts ofโ Appeal have interpreted this standardโ strictly, sometimes demanding explicit identification of the waived โstatutory provision within the CBA itself.
“It โฃseems highly questionable that the provision inโ the NFL-NFLPA CBA is intended as a clear waiverโข ofโข players’โ rights to โฃengage in concerted activity for โtheir mutualโ aid and protection,” according to โคanalysis of the situation. “in which case, it is indeed โdifficult to harmonize the restrictions in the CBA with the protections under the NLRA.”
An arbitrator will ultimately โdecide the matter, with โthe โขNFL reportedly seeking โฃan expedited hearing before the next scheduled releaseโ of theโข Report Cards in februaryโข 2026. The outcome could โขhave significant implications for theโฃ scope of player advocacy and theโ balance of power betweenโ the league and the union.
