Lloyd Howell has resigned as executive director of the NFL Players Association, according to a statement shared by the union Thursday night. The move came as Howell faced increased scrutiny in recent weeks for a series of his decisions and revelations about his business ties.
In May, ESPN reported that the FBI and federal prosecutors were investigating the union’s financial dealings related to group-licensing firm OneTeam Partners, which was co-founded by the NFLPA and the MLB Players Association. Howell and MLBPA head Tony Clark are both on OneTeam’s board of directors.
On June 24, podcaster Pablo Torre published a report from arbitrator Christopher Droney that concluded the NFLPA had shown “by a clear preponderance of the evidence” that NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and general counsel Jeff Pash had advised teams to avoid guaranteed money in player contracts. Droney ruled, however, that there was no collusion by teams to keep salaries down. Until Torre’s podcast, the 61-page ruling, issued in January, had been kept secret from the public and the union membership, drawing criticism from players.
The collusion charge stemmed from a 2022 lawsuit by the PA that teams and the league worked together to avoid fully guaranteed contracts in violation of the CBA. It followed quarterback Deshaun Watson signing his fully guaranteed $230 million deal that year with the Cleveland Browns.
This month, a pair of ESPN reports turned up the heat on Powell. First, the network revealed that the union and NFL struck a confidentiality agreement to keep the arbitration details hidden from players and the public.
The final straw was an ESPN story showing Howell had been a paid part-time consultant for The Carlyle Group since March 2023, three months before he was hired to be the PA’s executive director. Last August, Carlyle was one of the private equity firms approved to invest in NFL teams up to a 10% minority stake.
Howell was hired by the NFLPA in June 2023 to replace DeMaurice Smith, who had been in the role since 2009. Howell had previously spent 34 years at consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton. He earned $3.34 million during his first full year at the NFLPA, which covered the fiscal year ending Feb. 28.