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Kalyn Kahler
Multiple Authors
Player representatives for the NFL Players Association have elected former union chief strategy officer and retired Cleveland Browns offensive lineman JC Tretter as their next executive director, the union announced Tuesday.
“I understand the responsibility that comes with this role and how important it is to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with player leadership,” Tretter said in a statement posted to X. “This union has always played a critical role in shaping the game, and that work is as important now as it’s ever been.”
The NFLPA has been searching for a permanent leader since July, when then-executive director Lloyd Howell resigned following ESPN reporting that he had charged a pair of strip club visits to the union. ESPN also reported that he worked part time for the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that is seeking minority ownership in NFL franchises, and that the union and league had struck a confidentiality agreement to keep an arbitrator’s rulings about possible collusion by NFL owners from players.
Tretter beat out an initial field of 300 candidates and the two other finalists — interim executive director David White, who was the former Hollywood actors’ union chief, and American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti.
“We conducted a thorough, deliberate search to identify the right long-term leader to deliver sustained, meaningful progress for our members,” the board of player reps said in a statement posted to X.
The NFL and NFLPA collective bargaining agreement expires in 2030, but Tretter will step into the role to address negotiations with the league over adding an 18th game and an international game for each team, goals about which Commissioner Roger Goodell and owners have been vocal. Tretter was the union’s player president from 2020 to 2024 and its chief strategy officer from October 2024 until July 2025 when he also resigned following ESPN’s reports.
He told ESPN in July that he was unaware of an agreement Howell had made with the league to conceal from players an arbitrator’s findings related to NFL owners’ collusion on pay. He was a candidate to serve as interim executive director after Howell resigned but pulled his name from consideration when he stepped down. He told CBS Sports at the time that he was “not interested” in being — or being considered for — executive director.
But Tretter emerged as a finalist in recent weeks, and his election is the culmination of a confidential election process that echoes the one the executive committee conducted in 2023 when Howell was elected. Ahead of that election, Tretter presided over a player rep vote to amend the NFLPA constitution and eliminate a requirement that executive director finalists be named to the board of player representatives 30 days before a vote.
Tretter told ESPN in an interview last year that he prioritized confidentiality because candidates’ names had been leaked to the media in past elections.
Player representatives gathered at the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego over the weekend to learn the candidates’ identities and interview them. When reached by ESPN in person in San Diego and by phone, multiple player representatives declined to comment on the election process.
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement released Tuesday congratulated Tretter and noted the “unique perspective” he brings as a former player.
“We have worked with JC for several years, first as union president when he helped the league and the NFLPA successfully navigate through COVID during the 2020 season,” Goodell said. “We look forward to building upon that relationship to further our shared priorities, including our commitment to advancing player health and safety and ensuring the global growth of our game for our fans, the players and our clubs.”
Supporters among the players for Tretter have noted his player-first mentality in his role as player president and chief strategy officer. He took credit for the NFLPA’s annual report cards, which survey players about working conditions at their clubs. He organized a players-only offseason golf tournament in Mexico and led a campaign to prohibit reporters from interviewing players in the locker room.
Tretter has made some costly errors as the NFLPA president, though. Last year, an arbitrator found that his 2023 comments about running back injuries violated the collective bargaining agreement because they encouraged players to fake injuries. The arbitrator’s decision cited Tretter telling a podcast that players “need to try to create as much leverage as you possibly can.” And last month, an arbitrator found that union distribution of the team report cards violated the CBA because they “[disparaged] NFL clubs and individuals.”
The arbitration cases would have contributed to union legal costs that grew nearly fourfold from 2015 to 2023. Legal costs averaged $5.1 million per year from the years ending February 2016 through February 2022, then jumped to $10.8 million in the year ending February 2023, $10.9 million in the year ending February 2024 and $18.1 million in the year ending February 2025, according to data compiled from the union’s LM-2s.
In addition to arbitration fights, the NFLPA also has been engaged in a dispute with the trading-card company Panini over licensing rights.
Player president Jalen Reeves-Maybin, who was elected to the role in 2024 after Tretter vacated the position, was re-elected Monday night. Per two sources familiar with knowledge of the election process, he ran unopposed.
