"It’s almost impossible" - Chase Daniel sounds off as NFL faces explosive collusion accusations over player guarantees

The National Football League is coming under fire for accusations of collusion regarding player guarantees. According to NFL insider Mike Florio in his article and an investigation by System Arbitrator Christopher Droney, the NFL and commissioner Roger Goodell "encouraged" all 32 NFL franchises to reduce guaranteed money for veteran players in the league.

"There is little question that the NFL Management Council, with the blessing of the Commissioner, encouraged the 32 NFL Clubs to reduce guarantees in veterans’ contracts at the March 2022 annual owners’ meeting." Droney wrote.

However, as Florio noted, the NFL ultimately did prevail due to a lack of evidence.

"The league ultimately won because Droney found that the evidence introduced at the 2024 hearing did not prove, by a 'clear preponderance' of the evidence, that the teams accepted and acted on the encouragement of the NFL Management Council." Florio said.

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This situation led former NFL QB Chase Daniel to take to the social media platform X and highlight how he thought that this report signaled collusion by the NFL.

"It’s almost impossible to prove collusion but…." Daniel wrote on X on June 24.

What does the report mean for the NFL moving forward?

Despite the report containing some interesting information and potential collusion between the league and the 32 teams that comprise it, nothing negative will likely come out of the situation for the NFL.

However, the situation appears to be one where the league and the players association have very different takes on the correct path forward. According to the article by Florio, the meeting between the NFL and the 32 teams came shortly after Deshaun Watson signed a major contract in Cleveland for $230 million fully guaranteed.

On the players association side of things, Florio noted how the "NFLPA tried, for the second time, to make all player contracts fully guaranteed as part of the broader Collective Bargaining Agreement" two years prior to the meeting.

As is evident, both sides are looking for a different conclusion to be settled. The NFL clearly wants less guaranteed money being handed out. Meanwhile, the NFLPA wants all contracts to be close to, or fully guaranteed.

Edited by Joshua Gillesby