Inside NFLPA’s Secret Rift: Why Key Players Labeled the Collusion Case a “Waste of Time”

It’s dying because the people who cover the NFL aren’t willing or able to advance the story. (It’s unclear whether they’re even trying.)

“There were people inside our building who thought it was a waste of time, but internally, our office had evidence of collusion, including hearing from multiple sources that the league and teams were discussing their avoidance of fully guaranteed contracts,” Smith writes.Despite no new reporting, the story of last week received a mild jolt of adrenaline from former executive director DeMaurice Smith’s upcoming book. Via Daniel Kaplan of AwfulAnnouncing.com, Smith’s book (Turf Wars) addresses the collusion case, which was filed when Smith was still in the job.The saga around the NFL’s collusion ruling isn’t exactly setting the world on fire anymore, much to the quiet satisfaction of both the league and its players’ union. It’s like watching a slow, reluctant fade-out, probably because those covering the NFL either can’t or won’t push the narrative forward—and honestly, it’s tough to tell if they’re even giving it a real go. Then again, you’d expect a little more hustle when a former exec like DeMaurice Smith drops a bombshell in his new book, Turf Wars, shedding fresh light on the case he once oversaw. Inside those pages, Smith doesn’t hold back, revealing internal clashes and voices that dismissed the whole collusion case as a dead end, even while his office gathered evidence suggesting the league and teams schemed to dodge fully guaranteed contracts. The NFLPA showed pretty clear proof that the NFL nudged teams toward collusive behavior, particularly after Deshaun Watson’s deal shook things up—yet, despite piles of incriminating evidence, the arbitrator looked the other way. The kicker here? Without new angles or breakthroughs, the story’s stuck… and will stay stuck as long as journalists playing it safe avoid rocking the boat—keeping their paychecks but dodging the drama. LEARN MOREStill, the story goes nowhere if there are no developments. And there will be no developments if the people who receive paychecks to cover the NFL take steps to preserve those paychecks by tiptoeing around something that could piss off the league and/or the union.The NFLPA proved that the NFL encouraged teams to collude regarding guaranteed contracts, with clear evidence of internal communications aimed at getting teams to hold the line following the Deshaun Watson contract. And the ruling contains plenty of evidence of actual collusion, even if the arbitrator chose to ignore it.The story of the collusion ruling is slowly dying on the vine, undoubtedly to the delight of the NFL and the NFL Players Association.