NFL wins grievance against NFLPA, puts an end to team report cards
- - NFL wins grievance against NFLPA, puts an end to team report cards
Tarohn Finley February 13, 2026 at 10:37 PM
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The NFL has won its grievance against the NFL Players Association regarding the annual team report cards. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) (Kevin C. Cox via Getty Images)
The NFLPA will no longer compile team report card rankings after the NFL prevailed in its grievance filed against the NFL Players Association, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.
The NFL released a statement on Friday.
“We are pleased with the decision from the arbitrator, upholding the parties’ collective bargaining agreement and prohibiting the NFLPA from disparaging our clubs and individuals through ‘report cards’ allegedly based on data and methodologies that it has steadfastly refused to disclose. ... We remain committed to working in partnership 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."
The NFL filed the grievance against the NFLPA in August. The league’s grievance stemmed from CBA Article 51, Section 6, which requires the NFLPA and league management council to “use reasonable efforts to curtail public comments by Club personnel or players which express criticism of any club…”
The league also alleges the report card surveys interfere with the union upholding Article 39, Section 5, which mandates the league and union jointly conduct an anonymous survey at least once every three years regarding players’ opinions on medical care and staff. The CBA also mandates the parties “commission independent analyses of the results of such surveys.”
Despite the NFL filing the grievance, the NFLPA continued to survey players for the 2025 report cards in November.
Since 2023, team report cards ranked teams from best to worst based on criteria such as treatment of families, food/dining, locker room and ownership. Last year, nearly 1,700 players participated in the 2025 NFLPA report card survey.
J.J. Watt, who played in the NFL for 12 seasons, questioned why the NFL won't allow players to grade their workplace when the NFL allows player rankings to be displayed on national TV.
NFL won’t let actual players grade the workplace they attend every single day, but they’ll allow a 3rd party “grading” service to display their “rankings” of players on national television every Sunday night… https://t.co/JBQXOgFZIN
— JJ Watt (@JJWatt) February 13, 2026
The surveys were anonymous and were an attempt for players to hold NFL clubs, owners, coaches and other personnel accountable. The NFL argued that the survey's negative anecdotes and feedback emerged from the report cards.
Last year, the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings ranked as the top two teams for the second straight year, while the Arizona Cardinals were at the bottom.
Source: “AOL Sports”
