It was shaping up to be a slow Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine until reporters caught wind the NFLPA was scheduled to release its latest club report cards.
The second annual report did not disappoint, giving NFL scribes plenty to write about. We’ll take a glance at what stood out from the NFLPA’s findings—including plenty of head-scratching nuggets out of the AFC West teams.
A few general managers also spoke Wednesday, including a very informative news conference from New York Jets GM Joe Douglas. Here’s what we learned Wednesday in Indianapolis.
AFC West nuggets from NFLPA report cards
There was plenty to dig through, as Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer mentioned in his quick hits off the NFLPA’s latest club report cards released Wednesday morning.
In particular, the teams in the AFC West presented some interesting findings, to say the least.
The Kansas City Chiefs have won back-to-back Super Bowls, but unfortunately for them, “games won” wasn’t a factor in the report cards, and the organization ranked 31st in this year’s survey. Kansas City failed in four of the 11 categories, including an F- in the owner category, which was a new addition to this year’s report cards.
Denny Medley/USA TODAY Sports
JC Tretter, the NFLPA president, said the category is primarily based on an owner’s “willingness to invest” in the team, something Chiefs owner Clark Hunt has failed to do with facilities in the locker room, according to the report’s findings.
Tretter said the Chiefs players’ biggest issue with Hunt was with regard to false promises that were made in the past year to improve the locker room.
“The year before they promised them a brand-new locker room,” Tretter told a group of reporters at the Indianapolis Convention Center. “The team went on to win the Super Bowl. They then came back to the same old locker room, but with new chairs. It was the only renovation. And the answer they got back was, You guys went too far in the playoffs. We didn’t have time to fix it.”
“They just won another Super Bowl. I think there’s some frustration there, out of that locker room: We keep winning Super Bowls and nothing is coming back to us. There’s no priority in making our lives better, but we keep making the organization more money and more fame.”
Here’s what else the NFLPA’s website had to say about the Chiefs’ subpar facilities: “The No. 1 complaint when it comes to the facilities is the locker room. Though the players received actual chairs with backs to sit in at their lockers in response to last year’s feedback, it did not change the fact that the locker room is overdue for a renovation. What adds to the frustration is that management told the players that renovations would come after the 2022 season. The players went on to win the Super Bowl and when they arrived back at their facility for the ’23–24 season, they realized the team never followed through with the promised renovation [other than adding chairs].”
The Chiefs did, however, get an A+ in the head coach category. The NFLPA said Reid was the highest-rated head coach in the league; the Detroit Lions’ Dan Campbell and Minnesota Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell were the only other coaches to receive an A+ grade in the new category.
Former Las Vegas Raiders coach Josh McDaniels received a D grade for the head coach category, the worst score among the report cards. (The survey was taken while he was the head coach.) The poor grade hurt the Raiders’ overall ranking and dropped the team to ninth among the 32 teams.
“The Las Vegas Raiders’ facilities rate at or near the top of the NFL in nearly every category and remain a great facility for players to work at,” according to the NFLPA’s overview of the Raiders. “The club’s shortcomings were tied directly to players’ opinions about their former head coach, Josh McDaniels.”
“The responding players’ strong negative assessment of the former head coach significantly brought down the club’s overall ranking. The hope is that newly hired head coach Antonio Pierce will create a better working environment to match the top-of-the line facilities in Las Vegas.”
The Los Angeles Chargers were ranked 30th overall, but their score could improve next year with a new training facility scheduled to open later this year in El Segundo, Calif. But that won’t help the category of team travel, where the Chargers earned a D- grade.
“The Chargers are one team that continues the same issue as last year where they don’t send the truck ahead of time,” Tretter said to reporters. “So you ship all your equipment. Most teams send their truck with all the equipment ahead of time. They [the Chargers] load it on the team plane, which means the players sit on the tarmac for hours both ways waiting for them to load and unload the truck.”
SI’s Conor Orr wondered whether the hiring of Jim Harbaugh will change Los Angeles’s frugal ways when it comes to team travel. The organization also scored poorly with treatment of families, getting an F for the category. The Chargers bill players $75 for one child in gameday care and $50 for each additional child.
As for the Denver Broncos, they received respectable grades in most categories and finished with an overall ranking of 16th. But the NFLPA’s overview of the Broncos did mention players’ concerns about the multiple cars that were stolen from the parking lot of the mandated team hotel during training camp.
Zach Wilson gets permission to seek trade, Robert Saleh decides to attend combine
Douglas might have not meant to share that Robert Saleh decided to attend the scouting combine this weekend, after reports emerged of the coach skipping the event entirely.
“I guess that’s breaking news,” Douglas said.
Saleh is scheduled to be in Indianapolis on Saturday and Sunday, the latter of which is when offensive linemen are scheduled to have on-field workouts at Lucas Oil Stadium. It’s been well documented that the Jets desperately need offensive linemen to keep Aaron Rodgers upright in 2024.
But that’s not all Douglas shared during his news conference. The GM also revealed that Zach Wilson was granted permission to seek a trade. The 2021 No. 2 pick struggled in 11 starts last season after Rodgers went out with a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1.
“Well, I’ve had good conversations with his agent, Brian Ayrault,” Douglas said. “Where we are exactly, we’ve given them permission to talk to other teams about a trade. I’m going to circle back with Brian at some point, this week or next week, just to see how those conversations go. Other than that, there’s nothing else to report.”
Douglas also mentioned that the team doesn’t plan to use the franchise tag on edge rusher Bryce Huff, who had 10 sacks during a breakout 2023 season.
Indianapolis Colts push for long-term deal with Michael Pittman Jr.
Colts GM Chris Ballard told reporters Wednesday that the team is prepared to use the franchise tag on wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., but the priority is to come to an agreement on a long-term contract extension.
Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports
“We’ll work hard to get a deal done,” Ballard said. “I’m not going to say we’re not going to use [the franchise tag,] but I’m not going to say we are. Hopefully, we can come to an agreement and find some compromise on a deal.”
The Colts have until Tuesday to agree on a long-term contract extension or they’ll be forced to use the franchise tag to retain the team’s No. 1 wideout. Pittman saw 159 targets and recorded 109 receptions with 1,152 yards last season.
