Abstract
When the Cleveland Browns provided controversial quarterback Deshaun Watson with a fully guaranteed contract, it established a recent precedent that National Football League (NFL or League) teams did not wish to see followed. Soon thereafter, three quarterbacks—Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray, and Russell Wilson—failed to receive fully guaranteed contracts. The NFL Players Association (NFLPA) filed a grievance arbitrable under the collective bargaining agreement. The union alleged ownership colluded to keep any post-Watson quarterback (and hundreds of NFL veteran players) from receiving a fully guaranteed contract. This manuscript examines the alleged activities of the NFLPA surrounding this case and ancillary activities of the NFLPA that may have done a disservice to NFL players and breached legal duties owed to the NFLPA membership. Through examining the NFLPA’s legal obligations pursuant to federal labor law and the significant harm to membership, the authors argue that there is a significant need for structural reform.
Recommended Citation
Chris Hanna and Jeffrey Levine,
Fiduciary Failure and Institutional Drift in the NFLPA: Legal Duties, Member Harm, and the Need for Structural Reform,
5 Fla. Ent. & Sports L. Rev.
123
(2026).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/feslr/vol5/iss2/4