The NFL Players Association released its second annual player team report card for all 32 teams. The survey was more comprehensive this year, with 11 categories, and it was conducted by a third party, Artemis Strategy Group.
A total of 1,706 players participated.
The Dolphins and Vikings flip-flopped from last year, with Miami ranking as the top team overall followed by Minnesota.
“They were in a league of their own,” NFLPA president JC Tretter said.
The Packers were third, the Eagles fourth and the Jaguars fifth. Jacksonville, which built a new team facility, made the biggest jump from a year ago.
The Commanders remained at the bottom of the rankings, with the Chiefs at 31, the Chargers at 30, the Patriots at 29 and the Steelers at 28. While Chiefs coach Andy Reid ranked at the top of the coach rankings, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt ranked last in the ownership rankings. (Former Raiders coach Josh McDaniels was the lowest-rated coach.)
“It is clear that there has not been a significant reinvestment back into the facilities even after consistent success,” the Chiefs report card reads. “That has led to a high level of frustration among player respondents and reflects in club owner Clark Hunt’s ranking as the least willing to invest in team facilities among all NFL owners/ownership group in the opinions of the respondents.”
The Cowboys took the biggest drop, going from fifth last year to 12th this year, mainly because their players view their training facility as understaffed.
“The players feel like they are very understaffed in this department, and it is difficult to get the necessary preparation and treatment to perform at their best,” the report card reads. “Only 62 percent of the players feel like they get an adequate amount of one-on-one treatment time, which ranks 30th in the NFL. The other issue mentioned was that the players feel the training room lacks basic equipment that you would expect to be standard in any other training facility.”
While significant improvements have been made or are being made, including by the Jaguars, Chargers, Bengals, Broncos, Saints and Falcons, some teams still have work to do. Some teams still don’t offer three meals a day to their players, and the Buccaneers charge younger players $1,750 for the season to have their own hotel room on the road.
The NFL released a statement after the results were announced.
“The league and its clubs always encourage and solicit player feedback to help improve all facets of their NFL experience,” the league wrote. “We look forward to getting the opportunity to review the union’s questionnaire, and the data supporting it, after its release to the media.
“When we first learned of this survey yesterday, we took the opportunity again to invite the union to join the NFL in a rigorous and third-party scientific-based survey as we have previously done and is mandated by the Collective Bargaining Agreement.”
The entire report card list can be found at NFLPA.com.
