The National Football League (NFL) recently filed a grievance against the NFL Players Union (NFLPA). Now, they’re pressuring the union to cease production of its annual team report cards. The league’s primary objection to these report cards is that they breach the joint collective bargaining law by antagonizing NFL teams in public. Even as it has filed its grievance, the NFLPA has assured its players that it will continue to move forward with this year’s survey.
The annual report cards, which have received responses from 1,695 players leaguewide in 2025, assess various aspects of team management, including treatment of players’ families and the quality of training staff. The report cards then give grades from A to F, providing a powerful tool for players to measure their franchise and make decisions based on the most important metrics.
An owner commented on the controversy, stating, “The only owners who don’t care for [the report cards] are the ones who get the subpar grades.” Owners of flighty franchises have had enough of the microscope their franchises are always put under. This sentiment reflects their fears about public ratings.
The NFLPA even more vigorously opposes the grievance. Their thinking is that the report cards are an important tool for ensuring that there are comparable workplace standards across the entire league. The union’s commitment to transparency and accountability is evident in their statement, which reads, “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 report cards cover various scores, including family services, which assess the quality of childcare services and stadium family rooms. Nine teams took the biggest leaps, increasing their family services scores by two or more letter grades. This progress marks an important step forward for players and their families. Quality of travel scores are part of the evaluations, with 12 teams experiencing outsize gains on that metric.
The NFLPA’s obligation to hold these surveys goes back to 2015, the last time they were fully completed. This continual pushback by players underscores not just their demand for equitable treatment within the league, but for safer work environments as well. Recently, some scathing criticism has come out on the methodology behind these reports.
A team executive expressed concerns about how the information is presented: “They don’t share how. They just take snippets to embarrass people without sharing the data.” This presents a troubling disconnect between league leadership and its players around the importance of transparency and fair, accurate reporting.
Johnson, one of the Congressional Black Caucus’s representatives from the Golden State, expanded on the flaws he and many others see in the survey process. He stated that it was supposed to be conducted according to an established agreement between the league and the union. What their methodology was in terms of how they gathered the data and who they gathered it from. He further emphasized that the process was intended to be shaped by flush representatives on both sides. In doing so, we can guarantee that this survey has the integrity and authenticity required. Johnson further asserted that there are many owners who feel the survey is not a balanced representation of player experiences: “And that was violated, in my opinion. I’m going to leave it at that, but I think there are a lot of owners that looked at that survey and said this is not fair, it’s not balanced, it’s not every player, it’s not even representative of the players.
As this dispute plays out, it’s a significant test of the balance of power between the NFL—and a $19 billion dollar industry—and its players. Although the league is understandably looking to protect its operations and image, players are calling for some transparency in the form of disclosing workplace conditions. This complaint has the potential to set a huge precedent. Most importantly, it will shape what player evaluations and reports look like in the future.
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