The NFL Players Association’s annual report cards will continue, even if they can’t officially be published by the union.
A footnote contained in the 26-page ruling that gave the NFL a hollow victory contains an important tidbit: “Eighty percent of the players completed this survey in 2025. This was the highest Player participation rate ever.”
That was before the NFL secured a ruling that the union can’t release the outcome of the survey to the public. Moving forward, the players likely will be even more motivated to chime in. They know the league doesn’t like the report cards, and they realize the league took steps to silence them from sharing the results.
Again, the report cards inevitably will be released. It only takes one player to leak them. Once they come to light, the league will have to decide whether to aggressively investigate the source of the leak (in the same way Jon Gruden is trying to figure out who from the NFL leaked the emails that ended his tenure with the Raiders) or to let it go.
Regardless, the ruling preserved the NFLPA’s right to gather feedback from players about the 32 teams. The information becomes relevant to free-agency decisions. It also compels the teams that take the process seriously to make meaningful changes.
Only the teams and owners that don’t want to change have a problem with the employee feedback. But the feedback will continue. And it will be impossible to fully silence the players.
If anything, the effort to do so will make them more determined than ever to make their voices heard.