Inside the Union Mess That Threatens the NFL

From a desire to extend the regular season to 18 games to further international expansion, the NFL has been angling for major changes in the years to come.

When Lloyd Howell was hired in 2023 as the next executive director of the NFL players’ union, executives across the league had reason to be optimistic that he could help them grow the league and make billions more dollars.

Howell, the former chief financial officer of Booz Allen, seemed to think like NFL owners—in terms of bottom lines.

That all crumbled earlier this month when Howell resigned following a series of reports that called into question his judgment, all while a federal investigation continues into whether union officials improperly enriched themselves.

But while the recent revelations drew widespread attention, people familiar with the matter say that the dysfunction within the union had existed for far longer. And it’s already threatening the NFL’s grandest ambitions.

From a desire to extend the regular season to 18 games, which commissioner Roger Goodell has openly discussed, to further international expansion, the NFL has been angling for major changes in the years to come. Only Goodell can’t snap his fingers and make those overhauls unilaterally. They’re collectively bargained with the NFL Players Association, the organization that Howell was paid millions to lead.

Yet a series of missteps have brought any progress to a screeching halt. There is now a gaping void at the highest level of the game’s power structure, with no quick fix.

“Nobody should be happy about this,” said George Atallah, who was the NFLPA’s assistant executive director of external affairs until earlier this year. “It puts progress at risk and delays an opportunity for both players and owners to get ahead of a changing landscape.”

After an unusually secretive process to replace DeMaurice Smith, who had been in charge of the NFLPA since 2009, Howell impressed people across the league with his business acumen. He dove into data and made a point of establishing relationships with players, owners and league executives.

But Howell had been on the job for less than a month when concerns first arose, both inside and outside the union.

NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell resigned following a series of reports that called into question his judgment.

In July of 2023, Booz Allen agreed to pay a $377 million settlement for improperly charging costs to its government contracts and subcontracts, according to the Justice Department. The alleged impropriety occurred from 2011 to 2021, which includes Howell’s spell in charge of the company’s financial practices.

Then in August, Howell made his first big move—and it backfired spectacularly.

The NFLPA terminated its trading card contract with Panini to begin working with a new Fanatics business earlier than originally planned. Many top union officials counseled Howell against the move, citing the potential legal risks, but he went through with it anyway, people familiar with the matter said.

That risk wound up blowing a hole in the union’s coffers. Panini fought back against the decision, and an arbitrator awarded the company nearly $8 million from the NFLPA last summer.

Shortly after that costly ruling, the NFLPA offered buyouts to a large number of employees. The NFLPA, at the time, said the layoffs were part of an effort to keep the union running efficiently.

Altogether, the turmoil and turnover meant it was difficult to make progress on key issues, such as the push for 18 games. While Goodell and Howell engaged in high-level discussions about those topics, the types of in-the-trench negotiating sessions that hammer out those types of deals never took place, people familiar with the matter said.

That was all before a series of revelations doomed Howell despite the union’s attempts to stand by him.

Last month, the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast published the ruling from a grievance the NFLPA filed that accused teams of colluding to reduce the guarantees in contracts. Some questioned why the ruling, which concluded league officials encouraged teams to reduce guarantees but that the evidence didn’t establish that teams ultimately did that, was kept secret.

Soon after, questions arose over whether it was appropriate for Howell to lead the union, which paid him $3.6 million last year, and simultaneously be a board member at Carlyle, one of the investment firms approved to buy stakes in NFL franchises. Still, player representatives sent a message to membership defending Howell and said they were committed to working with him.

Just a few days later, though, Howell was gone. ESPN reported on disagreements over whether players knew he was the defendant in a sexual discrimination lawsuit while at Booz Allen. The outlet also reported that Howell had charged the union for strip club expenses.

“Our members deserve a union that will fight relentlessly for their health, safety, financial futures, and long-term well-being,” Howell said in a statement. “It’s clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day.”

Detroit Lions linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin is NFLPA president.

That wasn’t the end of the fallout. JC Tretter, a former offensive lineman and NFLPA president who continued working with the union after his retirement, also quit.

There are still potential land mines ahead. The NFLPA remains entangled in a federal investigation along with the Major League Baseball Players Association and their licensing arm, OneTeam Partners, that’s looking at whether some union executives siphoned off money.

In the wake of all of this, the NFL and NFLPA might as well start anew on the important issues that will shape the game’s future. Goodell will have to establish a relationship with yet another union chief, who in turn will have to learn what the thousands of NFL players they represent actually want.

“While our union has been tested of late,” NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin, a Detroit Lions linebacker said in a statement, “we remain committed to the values of integrity, accountability, and progress in serving the best interests of our membership.”