Mike Florio criticizes NFL, NFLPA for silence on collusion ruling

NBC’s Mike Florio is coming after both the NFL and the NFL Players Association after new findings emerged in a collusion ruling against the league on Tuesday. Reporter Pablo Torre uncovered a 61-page document in which it was discovered that the NFL encouraged teams to reduce guarantees in veterans’ contracts at a March 2022 meeting.

Both the NFL and the NFLPA did not respond to Florio’s request for comment on the matter, prompting him to write an opinion piece. He took aim at the league for not owning up to what is clearly a bad look for itself and at least releasing a statement.

“The league’s ongoing silence is not surprising,” Florio wrote. “The ruling, despite the victory, makes the league look not great. It confirms the longstanding suspicion that ownership meetings are ‘collusion meetings.’ Also, the victory makes the Commissioner and the Management Council seem weak and ineffective. They wanted the owners to collude, and the owners defied the directive.”

The meeting happened just days after the Cleveland Browns signed quarterback Deshaun Watson to a five-year, fully-guaranteed, $230 million contract. It was also just two years after the NFLPA attempted to make all player contracts fully-guaranteed as part of its Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Ultimately, the NFL won the case for collusion because evidence was produced in a 2024 hearing that showed the teams did not act upon encouragement from the league’s Management Council. Yet even though it got a victory, it hid the 61-page document showing that from the public eye for five months before Torre uncovered it.

What’s more surprising to Florio than the league’s lack of responses, however, is the silence from the Players Association. He felt that this should be a “victory” for them as they proved that the league is out to collude against them, yet said nothing.

“Far more surprising is the NFLPA’s failure to weaponize the ruling,” Florio wrote. “It makes no sense for the union to hide what was, ultimately, a victory. They proved that the league colludes, or at least that it tries to.”

It will be interesting to see what else comes from this story with Florio promising at the end of his article that he would “fully milk this story from every possible angle.” With the offseason being a slow period, he should have every opportunity to do a deep dive if he so pleases.