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The NFL Management Council, a group of league executives working with the approval of commissioner Roger Goodell, encouraged all 32 teams to collude against players by denying contractual guarantees, according to an independent arbitrator ruling uncovered by podcaster Pablo Torre.
And according to that ruling, the alleged scheme all began in response to the doomed $230 million contract the Cleveland Browns awarded quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2022 – a five-year deal that was fully guaranteed despite outstanding sexual misconduct claims against the NFL star. Watson would ultimately settle nearly two dozen lawsuits with female accusers, while struggling through three injury-plagued seasons with the Browns.
'The alleged purpose of the NFL's agreement with the Clubs was 'to thwart market competition from running its course' and 'to prevent them from following the precedent set by quarterback Deshaun Watson's five-year, fully-guaranteed, $230 million Player Contract signed with the Cleveland Browns in March of 2022,' read independent arbitrator Christopher Droney's ruling published by Torre.
Droney released his ruling last summer, noting that the NFL Management Council 'encouraged 32 member Clubs of the NFL to reduce guarantees in future contracts with players at the March 2022 annual meeting.'
Despite this, Droney found, the clubs did not engage in collusion and he ultimately dismissed the NFL Players Association's (NFLPA's) arbitration 'in its entirety' earlier this year. Somehow, that ruling remained a secret until Torre published it on Tuesday.
A NFLPA spokesman has declined comment to Daily Mail, while an NFL spokesman has not responded to questions about Goodell's possible role in the alleged scheme.
According to the ruling, the alleged collusion scheme all began in response to the doomed $230 million contract the Cleveland Browns awarded quarterback Deshaun Watson in 2022
The union alleged in its System Arbitration in October of 2022 'that the collusive agreement of the NFL precluded three other quarterbacks – Russell Wilson, Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray – from fully guaranteed contracts after the Watson contract.'
All three quarterbacks saw significantly less guaranteed money in their subsequent contracts than Watson had in March of 2022.
Murray's $230.5 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals contained only $160 million in guarantees, while just $185 million of Lamar Jackson's $260 million deal with the Baltimore Ravens was guaranteed in March of 2023.
Remarkably, Jackson saw very little interest from other teams despite being the league's MVP just a few years earlier.
'Only a couple of teams expressed interest to DeCosta in signing him prior to the Ravens' decision to franchise him,' read the report.
Wilson signed a $245 million extension with the Denver in 2022. That deal included $165 million in guarantees, but he was released prior to the 2024 season.
Lamar Jackson is one of several players potentially impacted by the alleged scheme
The ruling also includes text messages between two team owners: the Cardinals' Michael Bidwill and the Los Angeles Chargers' Dean Spanos.
'Your deal helps us for our QB next year,' Spanos wrote to his supposed rival after Murray re-signed in Arizona.
'I think many teams will be happy with it once they have a chance to review,' Bidwill responded. 'Cleveland really screwed things up, but I was resolved to keep the guaranteed relatively 'low.'
One source with knowledge of the grievance told Pro Football Talk that Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert would be a good plaintiff in any legal action against the NFL or even the NFLPA.
Herbert’s five-year, $262 million deal includes $218 million in guarantees.
The NFL's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) expressly forbids collusion between teams and gives the union the right to terminate the CBA in the case of widespread collusion, which can be difficult to prove.
