The Titans love their new family affairs director, the Eagles wish the team’s business staff would stop hogging the tables in the cafeteria, and the Buccaneers are one of a few NFL teams that seem to be putting their locker room plumbing through an ordeal. These are all findings included in the NFL Players Association’s annual player survey, which was released Wednesday.
For the past three years, the NFLPA has surveyed players across the league on what their working conditions are really like and published the results. Yelp for billionaire NFL owners, essentially. In the past, the survey has disclosed which teams have rat infestations in the locker rooms (the Jaguars during the 2022 season) or sewage leaks (the Commanders the next season) and has generally revealed that a majority of players think their team ownership groups are populated by apathetic dilettantes (widespread issue). Still, union leadership has stressed that these surveys are an effective force for positive change as opposed to a public shaming mechanism.
NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter said Wednesday that team grades improved overall this year. The average grade went from a B-minus to a B, and teams received A grades, meaning an A-minus or better, in 41 percent more categories than last year. There were also 55 percent fewer F grades. Many teams have broken ground on new facilities and made improvements in areas like family services and travel accommodations in response to past surveys.
“We’ve seen major shifts across almost every team to the positive,” Tretter said.
Shame works! Let’s dive into the findings.
Who’s Doing Well?
Since the survey launched after the 2022 season, the Dolphins and the Vikings have consistently been the two top-scoring teams in the NFL. This year, Miami got the best overall score, with players praising the fresh food in the cafeteria, generous facilities and travel, owner Stephen Ross’s commitment to improving the team, and coach Mike McDaniel’s responsiveness to players.
Minnesota ranked especially high in the treatment of players’ families. The rest of the top five teams—the Falcons, Raiders, and Chargers—included some serious risers. Atlanta went from ranking 25th last year to third this year, the team’s grade going from an F-minus to an A; players cited their new weight room, cafeteria, and strength and conditioning staff for the improvement. Raheem Morris, who was hired in 2024, also ranked second among head coaches.
The Chargers, who jumped from 30th to fifth, benefited from the opening of a new training facility—that facility, as well as the strength, conditioning, and nutrition staff, got all A’s. One issue did come up: Only 55 percent of Chargers players said they felt new coach Jim Harbaugh is efficient with their time, which put him last among all head coaches in that ranking. The players also said that Harbaugh was only moderately receptive to locker room feedback; he ranked 26th in the receptiveness measure.
Houston, Green Bay, and San Francisco came in sixth, seventh, and eighth, respectively, and Tretter said that the differences between no. 5 and no. 8 were minor. In San Francisco, where players had complained in past surveys about tiny hot tubs, 81 percent of respondents said there was now enough room. (The sauna, however, frequently breaks.)
Another major riser was the Commanders, who ranked 11th overall after coming in dead last in both prior surveys. After last year’s results, which included two F grades and three F-minuses, new owner Josh Harris said, “I’m not an F-minus guy,” and he’s backed that up. Tretter highlighted that the Commanders were able to drastically improve their results without major investments in new facilities by focusing on food and travel, adding day care at the team’s facility, and hiring Dan Quinn, who was the top-ranked coach in the survey. Morris, Minnesota’s Kevin O’Connell, Kansas City’s Andy Reid, and McDaniel rounded out the top five coaches.
One other specific high point for players was travel arrangements in Tennessee, where new coach Brian Callahan swapped the seat assignments so that players sit in first class and coaches sit in coach.
Who Isn’t?
The teams with the five worst grades were the Steelers (28th), Jets (29th), Browns (30th), Patriots (31st), and Cardinals (32nd). The Steelers were cited for their outdated locker room and lack of individualized training programs. The Browns got an A for their newly built weight room, but players gave their small locker room an F-minus, one of only four F-minus grades across the entire survey. Head coach Kevin Stefanski also scored poorly, ranking 30th overall.
The Patriots could be on the up-and-up soon. Owner Robert Kraft has broken ground on a new facility that should improve issues players have with the weight room and locker room, which they said is outdated and has holes in the carpet. The team has already made significant improvements to the treatment of players’ families, after receiving an F-minus in that category last year.
But a remaining issue in New England is travel, particularly the team planes, which are so outdated that some seats still have ashtrays in the armrests. There is also no WiFi on the planes—Patriots players are being asked to beat Buffalo and Miami after raw-dogging what’s effectively a Spirit Airlines flight!
The Cardinals earned their last-place finish based on their facilities. Almost all their training areas were described as too small. (Head coach Jonathan Gannon was a bright spot, earning an A grade.)
In general, Tretter stressed that even the lowest-ranked teams were mostly moving in the right direction. While there has been some pushback from owners like Pittsburgh’s Art Rooney, who in an interview at last year’s owners meetings discredited the survey results as “a media opportunity for the Players Association as opposed to a serious effort of constructive criticism,” on Wednesday NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell said that most have come around, including Rooney.
“I think they’re getting beyond the emotion of reacting to the grade,” he said.
With one exception.
The Jets didn’t get the worst grade, but they dropped from 21st to 29th in the rankings, which players described as the result of an intentional and spiteful effort by owner Woody Johnson. According to the survey, players said that team management “responded to feedback by making conditions worse,” including by cutting the food budget and letting go of a longtime dietitian, Nicolette Mense, who was previously the team’s highest-rated staff member. Mense was then hired by the Chiefs, and she helped them raise their grade in the nutritionist category from an F to an A-minus.
Johnson was a particular lowlight for the team. Players described “top-down problems” and gave Johnson the lowest owner score in the league, based on his contributions to a positive team culture. But at least the Jets had a great season and have no other issues to speak of!
Other gripes included the Panthers’ travel, especially after players were bumped from first-class seats to coach under new head coach Dave Canales. The Eagles also think that they should get to fly first class instead of their coaches and that they should have staggered lunchtimes because they’re constantly waiting in line behind members of the team’s business staff. Also, the 49ers’ showers break, and the Rams have been working out of various temporary practice facilities for nine years.
Better Family Treatment
Treatment of players’ families has improved significantly over the past three years, which the NFLPA believes is a direct result of the survey. Since the survey first publicized the number of teams that offer game-day childcare to players and their families, several teams have added that benefit. In the first survey from 2022, 11 teams did not offer day care; that number is now down to three.
The Bengals, Packers, and Eagles are the three holdouts, although the 49ers and Rams offer game-day childcare at a cost—$40 per child in San Francisco and $75 for the first child and $50 for any others in Los Angeles.
The Bengals are the only team in the NFL who don’t provide day care or a family room.
Who’s Smelly This Year?
All football teams are smelly, so football teams whose smelliness rises to a level that needs to be addressed in the player survey are really going through it. Here are your smelly teams for 2024:
- The Falcons, who generally received rave reviews and love their new locker room, have a “ventilation issue” in the bathrooms.
- The Bucs’ locker room has a “persistent bad smell.” Forty-four percent of players also said that the bathrooms have plumbing issues.
The NFC South stinks!
Chiefs players didn’t complain about smells, but they had a specific issue with the cleanliness of the hotel where players stay before home games; it scored the lowest of any home game hotel across the league. Players said that the beds are uncomfortable and that the floors are so sticky that many of them keep their shoes on inside at all times. Leftover trash from previous occupants is “a common issue.”
The F-Minus Club
Several teams cleaned up their worst categories this year—there were only four F-minus grades given out in the entire survey, down from 10 last year.
The remaining F-minus marks included the Bills for team travel arrangements, which put players in coach while coaches and auxiliary staff sit in first class; the Bengals for the aforementioned treatment of families; and the Browns for their locker room, which 71 percent of players said was too small. The last F-minus grade was for the Cardinals’ last-place locker room. But at least there were no rats.
See you next year!
