A trove of legal documents uncovered by an independent journalist revealed that there was “little question” a massive act of collusion happened among NFL owners to reduce player salaries — even though an arbitrator ruled that the collusion didn’t place.
According to popular podcaster Pablo Torre, an independent arbitrator found that the league’s management council “encouraged” teams to reduce player guarantees. Not only that, commissioner Roger Goodell apparently knew about the plan and did little about it.
The 61-page document from the independent arbitrator, published by Torre on June 24, was called a “holy grail for the union.”
As the New York Post noted, “[T]he arbitrator of the 2022 lawsuit by the NFL Players Association (NFLPA) alleging collusion by the league and its owners ruled there is not evidence to verify that collusion occurred.”
The lawsuit alleged that the league owners closed ranks after a record $230 million guaranteed contract was given to Deshaun Watson of the Cleveland Browns.
“The NFLPA bases its claim on the fact that no other quarterback or high-profile player signed a fully guaranteed contract after Browns’ quarterback Deshaun Watson signed his contract last March,” wrote Jeff Pash, then the league’s general counsel. “The NFLPA argues that ‘[t]he expectation was that fully-guaranteed contracts would now become the competition driven norm for the players in the League, including quarterbacks, negotiating new contracts.’”
“We are aware of no evidence supporting these collusion claims, which we will vigorously oppose,” he added. The arbitrator, on paper, seemed to agree.
However, it doesn’t look quite as good for the league once you get your hands on the document.
“There is little question that the NFL Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL Clubs to reduce guarantees in veteran’s contracts at the March 2022 annual owner’s meeting,” it read.
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“However, the evidence did not establish a clear preponderance that the Clubs agreed to do that or participated in such a scheme. There are many Clubs whose only connection to his proceeding is the attendance at the Owners’ meeting, and the expert evidence of aggregate and average changes in various measure of spending, guaranteed and otherwise, is not sufficient, even when considered with the other evidence presented, for the NFLPA to meet its standard of proof.”
“It’s almost like the holy grail for the union,” a source told Torre. “Here’s 61 pages of gory details about how the league really works, thanks to an independent judicial arbitrator. You should be screaming about this from the high heavens.”
“The never-before-seen ruling reveals the results of both extensive discovery and a closed-door hearing with witness testimony from — deep breath — NFL commissioner Roger Goodell; three star quarterbacks (Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson); eight (!) owners; NFLPA leaders; and various powerful agents and executives. It also includes details about a closed-door presentation for all 32 NFL owners at an annual meeting, in the wake of the Cleveland Browns’ unprecedented, fully guaranteed contract for Deshaun Watson. (The trigger for this whole saga),” Torre wrote.
Watson, who’s now 29, still has two years left on his mega-contract with the Cleveland Browns. Not only would guaranteed contract have hobbled the Browns in terms of pure salary cap numbers if he were a good quarterback, but he’s been poor at best when he can play — which, between injuries and sexual misconduct allegations, isn’t as frequently as you would hope with a contract that huge.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio had called for the document — which, as Torre noted, “neither league ownership nor the players’ union wants you to see” — to be published. If the league didn’t do it, Florio said, journalists should be looking for it.
“The league and the union are obviously hiding something. And, as best we can tell, few if any others in a crowded and competitive media ecosystem are trying to get it,” Florio wrote in an article published June 11.
“We’ve heard plenty of things about the contents of the document. Some we have mentioned, like the fact that the arbitrator found evidence of collusion but concluded that damages were not proven. Some we have not yet mentioned, which if true would explain why the two sides are keeping the document a secret. The silence is quite possibly aimed at protecting one or more people from embarrassment, scrutiny, and/or consequences regarding specific contents of the ruling.”
And he was right. As Torre wrote, the “investigation here isn’t just about Roger Goodell and his shadowy ‘NFL Management Council.’ Because I believe this document is also a map” to collusive activity regarding player contracts.
Florio, meanwhile, said, “[O]ne source with knowledge of the proceedings described as the most significant ruling in American sports since 1994.”
“Indeed, even though the NFL won, it was caught with its hand in the collusion cookie jar,” Florio said. “The league was saved only by the fact that [the arbitrator] believed no cookies were consumed. Despite the pervasive crumbs.”
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