Latest news with #PabloTorre
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Lamar Jackson declines to comment on hidden collusion ruling
In January, the NFL Players Association scored a partial victory in a collusion grievance against the league. The outcome was inexplicably hidden by the NFLPA for more than five months, until Pablo Torre found out. The grievance focused on three quarterbacks who failed to get fully-guaranteed contracts after the NFL's Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, urged teams to avoid fully-guaranteed deals. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, a 2019 MVP who strangely drew no interest as a non-exclusive franchise player in 2023, was the biggest name involved. On Wednesday, Jackson declined to comment on the matter. 'I'm focused on football right now,' Jackson told reporters, via Noah Trister of the Associated Press. 'I'm not worried about that right now. That happened. It is what it is. I'm focused on this right now.' That's his absolute right. He also has the absolute right to be upset that the truth about the case was buried by the union — and that neither the partial victory nor the evidence developed during the process was publicized, in an effort to show that Jackson had been wronged by a system that seemed to be designed (post-Deshaun Watson) to resist giving high-end quarterbacks the thing Jackson made it clear to the Ravens he wanted: a fully-guaranteed deal. It's also relevant to his current contract, which has three years remaining. Both sides have addressed the possibility of a new deal, and Jackson has every right to once again demand the fully-guaranteed contract he didn't get the last time. With Jackson focused on football, it likely means the Ravens and Jackson won't be talking about an extension until 2026. At that point, he'll have two years remaining. And his 2027 cap number of $74.5 million will make it very difficult to tag him in 2028, since he'd be entitled to a 20-percent bump over that amount, which equals $89.4 million. Jackson built leverage for himself the last time around by waiting until his five-year rookie deal expired. If the NFLPA hadn't hidden the outcome of the collusion case, Jackson may have had enough leverage to rip up the current deal and replace it with five fully-guaranteed years as of 2025. Is Jackson aware of that? If he is, he's not saying anything publicly. Privately, he should have tough questions for those who kept knowledge from him that could have resulted in Jackson parlaying the 61-page ruling into a fully-guaranteed deal through 2029.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
JC Tretter resigning from NFLPA amid scandals within union
Days after the NFL Players Association's executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. resigned, the favorite to replace him is resigning as well. Former Cleveland Browns center and NFLPA president JC Tretter told CBS Sports that he is resigning from the NFLPA, removing his name from candidacy for the now-vacant executive director position. "Over the last couple days, it has gotten very, very hard for my family. And that's something I can't deal with," Tretter told CBS Sports. "So, the short bullet points are: I have no interest in being [executive director]. I have no interest in being considered; I've let the executive committee know that. I'm also going to leave the NFLPA in the coming days because I don't have anything left to give the organization." NFL, NFLPA explainer: What to know about grievances, Lloyd Howell, next steps Tretter served as president of the NFLPA from 2020 to 2024 and resigns amid multiple scandals involving Howell and the players' union. Howell faced questions after the "Pablo Torre Finds Out" podcast released a 61-page arbitration report showing the NFL encouraged owners "to reduce guarantees in future contracts with players at the March 2022 annual meeting." Howell, the head of the NFLPA at the time, reached a confidentiality agreement with the NFL that kept players and the public from knowing what was in the report. Since his resignation, reports came out that Howell charged the NFLPA for multiple strip club visits. The "Pablo Torre Finds Out" podcast also reported another confidential deal between the NFL and the NFLPA on an investigation into fake injuries. Tretter's comments during an interview in 2023 led to the investigation. Tretter was considered a frontrunner to replace Howell in upcoming NFLPA executive director elections. "I'm not resigning because what I've been accused of is true," he told CBS Sports. "I'm not resigning in disgrace. I'm resigning because this has gone too far for me and my family, and I've sucked it up for six weeks. And I felt like I've been kind of left in the wind taking shots for the best of the organization." OPINION: Former NFLPA head Lloyd Howell was sunk by his own secrets NFLPA chief player officer Don Davis is reportedly the other frontrunner and seems poised to take the position. Davis played linebacker for 11 years in the NFL with the New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, St. Louis Rams and New England Patriots. All the NFL news on and off the field. Sign up for USA TODAY's 4th and Monday newsletter. This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why JC Tretter is resigning from the NFLPA amid scandals
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lloyd Howell's resignation is first logical step NFLPA has taken in a while
The day that needed to come has arrived at the NFLPA. After an avalanche of news leaks and stories over the past few weeks, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell resigned from his post, marking the first logical step that the union has made since Pablo Torre unearthed a 61-page arbitration document that launched outside scrutiny at the NFLPA. Since then, the union has been embroiled in controversy with additional reporting from ESPN detailing an overly secretive union that clearly does not have the best interests of its constituents in mind. Howell's resignation was always going to come, but finally the union is able to move into a more constructive era where they have a chance to positively represent their players. In the wake of the initial report on Pablo Torre Finds Out, Howell has been exposed as someone who works for a firm investing in NFL teams; agreed to cover up collusion evidence in tandem with the owners; used union funds to pay for a trip to a strip club in Miami; and had a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment unearthed. There was simply no way that he could have remained the head of the union. Practically, morally — it just was not feasible. This is the ethos of someone who actively works against unions, not supporting them. Howell never had any business getting this job in the first place, but former president J.C. Tretter, who acted more as an agent of the owners than the players with regard to the collusion lawsuit, played a role in getting him hired. The main, and perhaps only at this time, positive of Howell resigning is that this didn't linger on and become an even bigger distraction for the union than it already is. Howell even noted in his public resignation statement that his "leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day.' Yeah. That's one way to put it. The other way to put it is that his leadership was actively destroying the one piece of solidarity that keeps the league in a healthy space without owners running their workforce into the ground. However, that didn't seem to bother Howell too much while he was embezzling funds to take trips to Tootsie's on the union dime for what must have been an exquisite meal and entertainment. A distraction is something that temporarily causes an entity to lose focus on their main task. How can someone be distracted from something they never intended on doing the right way? It was frankly offensive to usher Howell in at any point — the man fought against unions prior to taking over as the executive director of the union! How can you hire a union buster to lead a union? You can't sleep in a den of lions and be surprised when they take a bite out of you. They're lions. That's what they do. And that's what people like Howell do, and why he had to go. No serious union would have even entertained Howell's candidacy, let alone using a borderline secret and rushed vote to get him in the door. If the NFLPA is willing to be less sensitive to what people say about the union, this can be a great chance for inflection and change. A new collective bargaining agreement is five years away, giving them time to go through the proper election process for a new executive director. Perhaps one that isn't involved with increasing the financial value of NFL teams that they're investing in. A union director that isn't receiving kickbacks off investments in NFL teams would be a great starting point as the NFLPA attempts to move on from this disaster. A few years before the negotiations on the CBA heat up is the perfect time to make a change in the culture of the union. Get back to doggedly fighting for the players instead of chumming it up with owners to gain more personal notoriety among the ruling class. The union has to be about the players. This is their chance to get back to that.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lloyd Howell's resignation is a first step toward NFLPA getting its act together before next CBA negotiation
Very rarely does the public get a look at the inner workings of professional sports leagues and their labor negotiations. Thanks to an initial report by Pablo Torre on his podcast "Pablo Torre Finds Out," detailing an arbitration case that showed potential evidence of collusion from NFL team owners against guaranteed player salaries, a surge in reporting surrounding the NFLPA has shown how stained the top of the union appears to be. It's very clear that a union in this state can't function in the best interests of its players, and the conflicts of interests at the top of the union are really breathtaking. The crux of the recent reporting has been centered on executive director Lloyd Howell, who officially resigned his position on Thursday night. Howell was elected as the executive director of the NFLPA in June of 2023, and thus had the daunting challenge of uniting and representing the players as they negotiate with league franchise owners for years to come in regards to collective bargaining agreements. ESPN unearthed the rather startling fact that Howell has a second job: working as a consultant for Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that's been approved by the league to seek minority ownership in NFL teams. Essentially, the executive director of the NFLPA has a second job that involves investing in ownership stakes of NFL teams. No need to mince words here: That's a startling conflict of interest that's easy to see. On Thursday, new reporting came to light that Howell faced a sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit while at a consulting group in 2011, and that fact may have been hidden from NFLPA members as they voted to elect Howell two years ago. Howell was chosen by a select group of 11 players. There were concerns over whether Howell's election process was constitutional by the union's standards in regards to how much time player representatives were given to vote after receiving the names. Ex-union president J.C. Tretter eventually put out a statement explaining the process and saying the NFLPA complied with their constitution and followed the correct voting procedures. But the shroud of confusion over the process was an alarming instance of seemingly unnecessary levels of secrecy — which became a theme that boiled over into the mess the union has today. ESPN also reported last month that the NFLPA and NFL owners agreed to keep the results of their arbitration regarding collusion against player salaries confidential. Even from the players themselves. While the ruling went in the NFL's favor because there wasn't "a clear preponderance" of evidence that teams actually colluded, arbitrator Christopher Droney also said that there was "little question" the NFL encouraged teams to reduce guarantees in veterans' contracts following the Browns' historic deal for Deshaun Watson in 2022. Withholding that from the players themselves, a few of whom were actively seeking out new deals, is antithesis to the normal functions of a union. The selection of Howell, the sealing of the arbitration results, being unfazed by Howell's part-time job with the Carlyle Group — none of those were the actions of a healthy union with the players' interests at the core of its cause. And now, Howell is out. There are still a couple years before CBA negotiations will get intense going into 2030, but the way things are right now it's hard to believe that the NFLPA will actually be organized enough to stand tall against ownership, assuming that's even a goal. If the NFLPA can't even represent the highest-paid players in the league with fervor, what is going to happen to everyone else down the food chain when money issues are tightly contested with ownership? No one is ever going to say that running the NFLPA is easy, but the reporting that's been laid out shows an institution that needs to make a heftier effort toward effective representation. A strong union is imperative for the health of the league because there is no NFL without the players who populate it. It's impossible to have a combative, strong backbone for a group like this with the level of secrecy and working in the shadows going on. That's something that's important for everyone who loves the functionality of this league to remember — from fans to journalists and the union itself.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Lloyd Howell's resignation is a first step toward NFLPA getting its act together before next CBA negotiation
Very rarely does the public get a look at the inner workings of professional sports leagues and their labor negotiations. Thanks to an initial report by Pablo Torre on his podcast "Pablo Torre Finds Out," detailing an arbitration case that showed potential evidence of collusion from NFL team owners against guaranteed player salaries, a surge in reporting surrounding the NFLPA has shown how stained the top of the union appears to be. It's very clear that a union in this state can't function in the best interests of its players, and the conflicts of interests at the top of the union are really breathtaking. The crux of the recent reporting has been centered on executive director Lloyd Howell, who officially resigned his position on Thursday night. Howell was elected as the executive director of the NFLPA in June of 2023, and thus had the daunting challenge of uniting and representing the players as they negotiate with league franchise owners for years to come in regards to collective bargaining agreements. ESPN unearthed the rather startling fact that Howell has a second job: working as a consultant for Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that's been approved by the league to seek minority ownership in NFL teams. Essentially, the executive director of the NFLPA has a second job that involves investing in ownership stakes of NFL teams. No need to mince words here: That's a startling conflict of interest that's easy to see. On Thursday, new reporting came to light that Howell faced a sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit while at a consulting group in 2011, and that fact may have been hidden from NFLPA members as they voted to elect Howell two years ago. Howell was chosen by a select group of 11 players. There were concerns over whether Howell's election process was constitutional by the union's standards in regards to how much time player representatives were given to vote after receiving the names. Ex-union president J.C. Tretter eventually put out a statement explaining the process and saying the NFLPA complied with their constitution and followed the correct voting procedures. But the shroud of confusion over the process was an alarming instance of seemingly unnecessary levels of secrecy — which became a theme that boiled over into the mess the union has today. ESPN also reported last month that the NFLPA and NFL owners agreed to keep the results of their arbitration regarding collusion against player salaries confidential. Even from the players themselves. While the ruling went in the NFL's favor because there wasn't "a clear preponderance" of evidence that teams actually colluded, arbitrator Christopher Droney also said that there was "little question" the NFL encouraged teams to reduce guarantees in veterans' contracts following the Browns' historic deal for Deshaun Watson in 2022. Withholding that from the players themselves, a few of whom were actively seeking out new deals, is antithesis to the normal functions of a union. The selection of Howell, the sealing of the arbitration results, being unfazed by Howell's part-time job with the Carlyle Group — none of those were the actions of a healthy union with the players' interests at the core of its cause. And now, Howell is out. There are still a couple years before CBA negotiations will get intense going into 2030, but the way things are right now it's hard to believe that the NFLPA will actually be organized enough to stand tall against ownership, assuming that's even a goal. If the NFLPA can't even represent the highest-paid players in the league with fervor, what is going to happen to everyone else down the food chain when money issues are tightly contested with ownership? No one is ever going to say that running the NFLPA is easy, but the reporting that's been laid out shows an institution that needs to make a heftier effort toward effective representation. A strong union is imperative for the health of the league because there is no NFL without the players who populate it. It's impossible to have a combative, strong backbone for a group like this with the level of secrecy and working in the shadows going on. That's something that's important for everyone who loves the functionality of this league to remember — from fans to journalists and the union itself.
