Inside the NFL’s Surprising Moves Post-Collusion Ruling: What They’re Not Telling You

Of course, the unavailability of the spreadsheet doesn’t mean the practice of coordination/collusion has ended. The league is simply making it harder to prove it by eliminating what would be clear and obvious evidence of collusion.

You know, when it comes to the NFL, just when you think the drama’s settled, here comes another plot twist. The league, which was already under fire for mishandling fully-guaranteed player contracts, seems to have shifted gears—but not necessarily in the way you’d hope. It turns out the saga of collusion isn’t just a player affair. For years, whispers swirled about owners quietly banding together to keep coaching salaries artificially low, sidestepping competition and, frankly, the fair market. Now we’re learning that this kind of wage coordination stretched far beyond the locker room, with the NFL reportedly sharing salary stats for pretty much every non-player role across the 32 teams. But here’s the kicker—this year, those spreadsheets mysteriously disappeared, citing “legal reasons.” Smart move? Absolutely. Dumb move before? You bet. Sharing detailed pay data among 32 supposed rivals is practically a recipe for antitrust headaches, and the league’s finally wised up to that reality. Though the salary lists vanished, the shadow game of collusion likely hasn’t, making it trickier than ever to catch in the act. Curious for more on this behind-the-scenes saga? LEARN MOREThe historical collusion/coordination extends beyond players. For years, it has been believed that owners collude regarding coaching pay, keeping the salaries down in the absence of a union or a salary cap. Apparently, they were coordinating/colluding elsewhere.It’s smart. Previously, it was dumb. Compiling and providing salary data among 32 independent businesses is per se coordination/collusion. And the league has been susceptible to an antitrust claim (or class action) from non-player employees impacted by the effort to limit competition for employee services.The NFL was caught with its hand in the collusion cookie jar, as to the issue of fully-guaranteed contracts for players. And even though the arbitrator erroneously accepted the NFL’s position that it was eating no collusion cookies, the NFL apparently has learned from the experience.This year, that ended. And the official position is that the information is no longer being provided for legal reasons.Per multiple sources, the NFL has shared on an annual basis salary data for every non-player position — from head coach to G.M. to area scouts to dietician to assistant athletic trainer. The league broke the information down by listing the high, the low, the median, and the average for every job in every NFL team.