NFLPA Refuses to Back Down on Team Report Cards

The NFLPA will continue conducting surveys of the NFL teams facilities and owners even though they are barred to release the results.

NFLPA Refuses to Back Down on Team Report Cards

Roger Goodell (Image via IMAGO)

The NFL won its grievance against the NFL Players Association this week, meaning that details of the Annual Report Card won’t be made public from now on. NFLPA’s hands are tied, but the ruling won’t stop them from conducting surveys.

Since 2023, the NFL has polled players across the league with the task of grading their teams in several categories. The NFLPA later uploads those results on its website for everyone to see.

The ruling upholds our right to survey players and share the results with players and clubs. The Team Report Cards exist to serve players. That mission remains unchanged. We will continue working to ensure players’ experiences are heard, respected, and acted on — by their teams, by their union, and wherever else possible.

The NFLPA told CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones

The NFLPA can not reveal the grade of their survey

The higher-ups at NFL HQ didn’t seem all that enthusiastic about the grading system. According to a November 2025 article by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr., the NFL accused the report of violating the CBA due to its public criticism of teams.

NFLPA Refuses to Back Down on Team Report Cards
Roger Goodell (Image via IMAGO)

The NFL won the ruling, and now the NFLPA is barred from making the results of the report card public. That said, the players’ association won’t scrap the 2026 survey.

The NFLPA released its statement after the arbitrator decided that publishing the team report cards violated the collective bargaining agreement. Despite the judgment, the NFL aims to continue working with the NFLPA, “and an independent survey company to develop and administer a scientifically valid survey to solicit accurate and reliable player feedback, as the parties agreed in the CBA.”

In last year’s survey, the Miami Dolphins earned the highest grade among all 32 NFL teams, while the Arizona Cardinals received the lowest. Clearly, the owners did not want players to judge their work.

For instance, the Chiefs, who won back-to-back Super Bowls and nearly recorded a three-peat, received failing grades for their nutritionist/dietician, locker room, and training staff. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt was given an F-minus as the owner of the franchise, and “a rating of 4.9/10 from Chiefs players when considering his willingness to invest in the facilities.”

Hunt’s grades improved in the following survey. He received a C- and a rating of “6.61 out of 10 from the Chiefs players, a ranking of 26 out of 32 owners in the league.”

Three-time Defensive Player of the Year JJ Watt took a jab at the ruling. The legendary Texans pass rusher noted that while the league doesn’t want players judging them, they’re perfectly fine doing the same through a partnership with a third party like PFF.

Regardless of the ruling, NBC Sports’ Mike Florio asserted that the survey results will leak on public forums one way or the other.

While there may not be a press conference announcing the results or a link to the full array of grades, someone connected to the process will leak them to the media. In the same way someone connected to the league leaked the Jon Gruden emails.

Florio wrote

That is a valid and intriguing observation by Florio. With the rise of artificial intelligence, anything feels possible in today’s world of social media.

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