NFL Blocks NFLPA Team Report Cards After Grievance Win

The NFL has won a key grievance against the NFL Players Association, putting a stop to the union's annual team report cards. An arbitrator ruled that the report cards broke rules in the collective bargaining agreement by disparaging teams and their staff. The league sent a memo to all 32 teams on Friday announcing the decision, which came after hearings earlier this year.

Background

The team report cards started in 2023 as a way for players to grade their teams on things like facilities, medical care, and treatment by coaches and owners. Players filled out anonymous surveys, and the NFLPA turned the results into grades from A to F. Teams got ranked from 1 to 32 based on average scores across categories. The union published the full results each spring, often sharing them with media outlets to highlight differences between teams.

In the 2025 report cards, released last offseason, the Miami Dolphins topped the list with high marks in most areas. The Arizona Cardinals came in last, with low scores on travel, food, and family treatment. New York Jets owner Woody Johnson received an F, the only owner to get that grade. Some teams saw their scores improve year over year, like the Dolphins moving up after fixing issues players flagged.

Players used the cards to pick free-agent spots. They gave real talk on daily life in each building, from locker room conditions to how staff handled injuries. The NFLPA said the cards helped everyone see workplace standards across the league. But team owners pushed back hard. The league filed its grievance in August 2025, saying the cards violated the collective bargaining agreement and league bylaws.

Those rules say players and club staff should avoid public comments that criticize any team, its coaches, or operations. The NFL saw the report cards as direct attacks, even if anonymous. The grievance process involved hearings where NFLPA witnesses testified. The arbitrator looked at how the union put the cards together.

Key Details

The arbitrator found problems with how the NFLPA made the report cards. Witnesses from the union admitted they picked certain topics and player responses to include, skipping others. Union staff wrote all the commentary, not players. Players had no say in the final words or quotes used. The NFLPA also gave different weights to categories, which changed the overall grades. For example, one bad score in medical care could pull down a team's rank more than a good one in facilities.

"The record established that the Report Cards were designed by the union to advance its interests under the guise of a scientific exercise."

• NFL memo to team presidents

The league said the process lacked real science. The NFLPA would not share full survey data from past years. At the hearings, union reps called the cards "union speech," but the arbitrator ruled they went too far. The decision bans the NFLPA from doing or publishing any more report cards like this.

Player Reactions

Before the ruling, players spoke up in favor of the cards. Arizona Cardinals tackle Kelvin Beachum called them a great way to show how players really feel inside team buildings.

"It's objective, especially for the people that are actually in the buildings every single day."

• Kelvin Beachum, Arizona Cardinals offensive tackle

Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cameron Heyward, an NFLPA vice president, said the cards kept everyone accountable.

"I think to stop it, it just kind of feels like you're hiding something."

• Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman

When the grievance first hit, the NFLPA told players they planned to fight it. They saw the cards as a tool for better career choices.

The NFLPA had already collected 2025 season surveys for a spring 2026 release. That data now sits unused because of the ban. Some owners, like Woody Johnson of the Jets, faced the worst reviews and reportedly led the push against the cards.

What This Means

Teams can still ask their own players for feedback directly. The NFL plans to work with the NFLPA and an outside firm to create a new survey on medical care under the collective bargaining agreement. This one will focus on CBA rules and aim for neutral methods. No public grades or rankings, though.

Free agents lose a public tool to compare teams. Players inside buildings might give honest input to their own staff, but without league-wide visibility, bad spots could stay hidden. Teams that improved based on past cards, like those boosting training rooms or travel, might slow down without the pressure.

The ruling comes as the NFL eyes changes to the CBA. The current deal runs through 2030, but talks could start soon on an 18-game season. The NFLPA might push to bring back some form of team feedback in a new agreement. Owners who got good grades before, like the Dolphins' group, had little to lose from the cards. A small group of unhappy owners appears to have tipped the scale.

Players keep pushing for better conditions through other channels, like direct talks or grievances on pay and safety. This loss limits one public window into team life. The league stays focused on smooth operations across 32 markets, with no more report card spotlights on weak links. Direct team-to-player surveys could fill some gaps, but expect less outside pressure for change.