NFLPA elects former OL JC Tretter as next executive director

NFL Players Association player representatives have elected the former union chief strategy officer and retired cleveland browns offensive lineman jessie tretter The union announced its next executive director on 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 the Ax. “This association has always played a vital role in shaping the game, and that work is as important now as it ever was.”

The NFLPA has been searching for a permanent leader since July, when then-executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. resigned after ESPN reported that he charged the union for a pair of strip club visits. ESPN also reported that he worked part-time for the Carlyle Group, a private equity firm seeking minority ownership in NFL franchises, and that the union and the league had entered into a confidentiality agreement to protect the arbitrator’s decision regarding possible collusion by NFL owners with players.

Tretter beat out an initial field of 300 candidates and two other finalists – interim executive director David White, the former Hollywood actors’ union head, and U.S. convention commissioner Tim Pernetti.

“We conducted a thorough, deliberate search to identify the right long-term leader to deliver continued, meaningful progress for our members,” the board of player representatives said in a statement posted to the X.

The NFL and NFLPA collective bargaining agreement expires in 2030, but Tretter will step into the role of addressing negotiations with the league on adding an 18th game for each team and an international game, goals about which NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and owners have been vocal. Tretter was the players union’s president from 2020 to 2024 and its chief strategy officer from October 2024 to July 2025, when he resigned following reports from ESPN.

He told ESPN in July that he was unaware of the agreement Howell had made with the league to conceal from players the arbitrator’s findings related to NFL owners collusion on salaries. He was a candidate to serve as interim executive director after Howell resigned, but withdrew his name from consideration when he left the position. He told CBS Sports at the time that he was “not interested” in being or being considered for executive directorship.

But Tretter emerged as a finalist in recent weeks, and his selection is the culmination of a confidential election process that echoes the one conducted by the executive committee if Howell is elected in 2023. Prior to that election, Tretter chaired a player delegate vote to amend the NFLPA constitution and eliminate the requirement that executive director finalists be named to the Board of Player Delegates 30 days before the vote.

Tretter told ESPN in an interview last year that he preferred privacy because the names of candidates in previous elections had been leaked to the media.

Player representatives gathered at the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego over the weekend to identify and interview candidates. When contacted by ESPN in person and by phone in San Diego, several player representatives declined to comment on the election process.

Goodell congratulated Tretter in a statement released Tuesday and noted the “unique perspective” he brings as a former player.

“We have worked with Jesse for many 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 on that relationship to advance our shared priorities, including our commitment to advancing player health and safety and ensuring the global growth of our game for our fans, players and our clubs.”

Supporters of Tretter’s players 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 card, which surveys players about working conditions at their clubs. He organized a players-only offseason golf tournament in Mexico and led a campaign to bar reporters from interviewing players in locker rooms.

However, Tretter has made some costly mistakes as NFLPA president. Last year, an arbitrator found that his 2023 comments about back injuries violated the collective bargaining agreement because they encouraged players to fake injuries. The arbiter’s decision quoted Traitor saying in a podcast that players “need to try to create as much leverage as possible.” And last month, an arbitrator found that union distribution of team report cards violated the CBA because they “[disparaged] NFL Clubs and Individuals.”

Arbitration cases may have contributed to the union’s legal costs increasing nearly fourfold from 2015 to 2023. Legal costs averaged $5.1 million a year in the years ending February 2016 to February 2022, then rose 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 consortium’s LM-2s.

In addition to the arbitration battle, the NFLPA is also embroiled in a dispute with trading-card company Panini over licensing rights.

player president Jalen Reeves-MaybinHe was re-elected to the role in 2024 after Tretter vacated the post. According to two sources with knowledge of the election process, he contested the election unopposed.