J.J. Watt Rips NFL's 'Team Report Cards' Victory in Grievance vs. NFLPA in Social Media Post

J.J. Watt is part of the loud chorus unhappy with an arbitrator's decision to prevent the NFL Players Association from releasing its annual team report cards.

In a post on social media after the ruling was announced, Watt ripped the move and compared it to the NFL allowing NBC to use Pro Football Focus grades during game telecasts.

Since 2023, the NFLPA has released team report cards to grade the organizations in a number of different categories based on a survey of active players.

Ownership, treatment of families, locker room size, nutritionist/dietician and training room/staff are some of the categories teams get graded on.

The purpose of the survey is to improve the overall work experience for players, while also holding clubs accountable for ways in which they might be lagging behind.

Results from the survey have made a difference. For example, after the New England Patriots received grades of F in the team travel and weight room categories last year, Robert Kraft called it an "eye-opener" and said it was up to him and other members of management "to do everything they can to create the culture that this is a place people want to come to."

The New York Jets, who finished 29th out of 32 teams in the 2025 survey, made significant upgrades to the locker room after receiving a D-plus grade.

ESPN's Seth Wickersham and Don Van Natta Jr. reported in November that the NFL filed a grievance against the NFLPA to stop the annual report card survey.

The league's contention, stated in a letter from NFL management council to NFLPA general counsel Tom DePaso that was obtained by Wickersham and Van Natta, was that publicizing the results violated the collective bargaining agreement.

Per the NFL's letter, both owners and the union must "use reasonable efforts to curtail public comments by club personnel or players which express criticism of any club, its coach, or its operation and policy."