Free agency is approaching, and the players’ union has decided to help NFL players choose their destination a little. On Wednesday, the NFLPA released the results of a survey of 1,300 players to find out the strengths and weaknesses of all franchises.
Categories: treatment of families, nutrition, weight room, physical trainers, medical facilities, doctors, locker room.
Respondents responded confidentially to 60 questions about their team. The union then followed up to detail the information.
The result is notes, but also sometimes very precise observations.
Overall, the franchises that are doing the best are the Vikings, Dolphins and Raiders. At the bottom of the standings are the Chargers, Cardinals and Commanders.
The capital… of the galley
Washington’s grades are pretty terrifying, with an F for treating families, D+ for nutrition, C+ for weight room, F- for medical facilities, D for doctors, and F- on the locker room side. Only physical trainers come out with an A+. The observations are not more reassuring, since the team is the one that would be most in need of medical personnel. As a result, many players explain that they do not want to treat themselves on the spot.
Only 35% of players in the capital think they have enough room in the dressing room. They even complain about a lack of hot water and water flow problems. The Commanders are also one of the seven teams that do not offer first class seats to their players on planes.
Washington players will at least take comfort in knowing that they may not have the meanest bosses. On the Arizona side, Cardinals players are entitled to bring back a meal tray if they want to have dinner… but it will be deducted from their salary. Arizona is the only team to do so, just as the franchise is the only one to charge meals to players who come to practice at the franchise’s facilities after the season. Most teams provide three meals a day for their players.
Just above the Commanders and Cardinals, the Chargers round out the Top 3 lowest rated franchises. Note that the Chargers, like the Rams, are suffering in the standings because they currently occupy a temporary training center, pending the completion of the construction of their permanent facilities. It should be 2024 for the Chargers. For the Rams, the work has not yet started, and the provisional should therefore last.
Vikings are welcoming
If their ancestors were not kind to Northern Europe, the Vikings of Minnesota are much friendlier. The franchise gets A’s in every category! She’s the only one who pulls off such a feat. The Dolphins are just behind in the overall standings, with excellent marks everywhere except for the treatment of families, where a C+ indicates that players would like a better family zone for the post-game. Places are currently limited and players with large families are restricted.
The podium is completed by the Raiders, who display A or B everywhere.
Cribs, rats and first class
Over the detailed reports, we discover a lot about the daily life of a franchise.
– 21 teams offer a nursery, which therefore leaves 11 who let their players manage this sector.
– 14 teams do not offer a lounge for families.
– 7 teams do not fly their players in first class.
– 6 teams require players to share rooms on the go.
– The Jaguars are singled out for some of the biggest problems, with an invasion of rats in the locker room for almost a month, or players’ wives forced to breastfeed their infants in the stadium toilets in the absence of a room for families .
The notes
