NFLPA leadership isn't out of the woods yet after stunning Lloyd Howell resignation

Trust may be at an all-time low among the NFL's rank-and-file and union leaders, who operated in secrecy when hiring Howell on June 28, 2023, and later agreed to cover up an explosive collusion ruling that suggested NFL leaders, including commissioner Roger Goodell, had urged owners against giving players fully guaranteed contracts.

That finding, first revealed by reporter Pablo Torre and later confirmed by ESPN, kickstarted Howell's downfall. It jumped into overdrive when later reports detailed Howell's work as a paid consultant for The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm pursuing NFL team ownership.

Howell was also investigated for his role as executive director of licensing firm OneTeam Partners. Moreover, Don Van Natta and Kalyn Kahler wrote on Thursday that some players were allegedly unaware of a 2011 sexual discrimination and retaliation lawsuit filed against Howell when voting occurred.

"To find this out after we elected Lloyd is concerning," one player representative told ESPN. "It feels like it was quashed."

His rapid fall has cast the shady process that led to his hiring in a troubling light that NFLPA leaders, including chief strategy officer and former president J.C. Tretter, must answer to before a chasm deepens between leadership and the players they represent.

A fracture already exists.

Another notable anecdote in Van Natta and Kahler's report was that an executive committee member blasted player reps talking to the media as "obnoxious," adding, "It's frustrating when this happens, people going to reporters. Don't be talking about our business to a freaking reporter," the executive member said.

Union leadership's antagonistic relationship with the media dates back to Howell's hiring, which PFT noted at the time left many NFL players "in the dark about the process for selecting" the union leader.

Boston Globe's Ben Volin wrote in 2023, "The lack of transparency was by design," and that Tretter led a charge to allow the NFLPA executive committee "to run the search in total confidentiality."

"The executive committee hired a search firm, interviewed and vetted candidates, and narrowed the search to 2-4 finalists without informing anyone outside of the committee," Volin wrote.

Tretter defended the process that kept most players in the dark, saying, "There's no reason that anybody should need opinions from the media."

While his run as union president ended with Jalen Reeves-Maybin's election in 2024, Tretter remained part of the NFLPA in his current role, which didn't exist before Howell's arrival.

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio wrote on Friday, "The next obvious question is (or should be) whether the NFLPA will sever ties with ... Tretter."

Everyone involved in Howell's hiring should be scrutinized, but as the union president at the time of his selection, Tretter deserves the most heat.

The controversies and conflicts of interest left Howell with no choice but to resign, but that isn't the end of the saga. It should force the NFLPA to re-evaluate the failed process that led to this mess. If nothing else changes, it could simply repeat its previous mistakes.