DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum NFLPA annual report cards

https://nflpa.com/report-cards/2025

The reports cards don't copy and paste easily so follow the link


A few things that I thought were interesting:

Browns ownership (C+) got a higher grade than Head coach (C)
Stealers ownership got a D

Only 3 head coaches got a C
Cleveland
Chicago
Jacksonville

No coach got a lower grade

Jets ownership was the only one to get an F

Panthers and Cardinals got a D-
Patriots and stealers got D
Tampa Bay got a D+

I would imagine that Browns ownership is probably pretty popular with the players (relatively).

Say what you want about Jimmy, but he has ZERO problem spending money, and that one thing goes a long way with the players.

I really wish we could see the answers to the open ended questions. Like what's wrong with the locker room? I thought the physical space looked pretty nice. Now if they were talking Watson's presence in it, that's a different animal.

I definitely think he was a factor in a lot of the lower grades.

The treatment of families category is also hard to know what exactly it means. Were there a bunch of bad things? Or just not good things they would have liked? Or was it just we don't want our wives, girlfriends, and children around a sexual predator?

Locker Room
Grade/Rank
F-
31st out of 32 teams
39% of players feel they have enough room in their individual lockers, a ranking of 32 out of 32.
29% of players feel the locker room size is adequate, ranking the Browns 31 out of 32 teams.

https://nflpa.com/report-cards/2025/cleveland-browns#locker-room

A SUMMARY OF ALL NFLPA ITEMS RATED

Treatment of Families
Grade/Rank D+, 28th out of 32 teams

Food / Dining Area
Grade/Rank C-, 26th out of 32 teams

Nutritionist / Dietician
Grade/Rank B-, 26th out of 32 teams

Locker Room
Grade/Rank F-, 31st out of 32 teams

Training Room
Grade/Rank D+, 31st out of 32 teams

Training Staff
Grade/Rank C-, 32nd out of 32 teams

Weight Room
Grade/Rank A, 8th out of 32 teams

Strength Coaches
Grade/Rank B+, 19th out of 32 teams

Team Travel
Grade/Rank D, 28th out of 32 teams

Head Coach
Grade/Rank C, 30th out of 32 teams
Only Chicago 32nd and Jacksonville 31st had their players rate their HC lower than Stefanski by the Browns players. They both hired new HC's this year making Stefanski the lowest rated active HC with a ranking in the entire NFL as rated by his players entering 2025 season. Digest that for a moment!

Ownership
Grade/Rank C+, 22nd out of 32 teams

I think I was picturing renovated Berea locker room, and they're talking stadium locker room.

Hopefully that gets fixed with the dome.

I'm sure he was annoyed with how he had to try to make Watson work, too. Unfortunately, it's a business and not just a game.

With grades like that I’d be chomping at the bit to come to Cleveland and play!!!😉

Only 1 single item was rated above 19th in the league by the Browns players: Weight Room Grade/Rank A, 8th out of 32 teams. When your team is rated by your players in the bottom half of the league in 10 of 11 items rated - YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

When you have the lowest rated returning active HC in the league - YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

When your training staff and training facilities are rated a combined worst in the entire NFL by your players - YOU HAVE A PROBLEM.

When the Browns have a 2025 team working in a 1960's environment with a highly disliked HC - YOU HAVE A PROBLEM!

Is the problem the stuff? Or is the problem the negativity? I think we've got a lot of soft, spoiled players. Not enough hot tub space is the biggest complaint for the training room. How many hot tubs do you need? You want 53? You're NFL players. You can afford to buy your own hot tub if you don't want to share. Why you'd want to go in one that's been used by Deshaun is beyond me.

These report cards are so subjective. What's the average number of hot tubs for an NFL team? How do the Browns compare?

As per usual, the excuses start flowing immediately. "I think we've got a lot of soft, spoiled players" - then who is responsible for signing of the vast majority of these soft, spoiled players?

Funny thing about this report is the players, Browns players, are actually telling the FO that they believe improvements would make the team better. 10 of the 11 items rank the Browns in the lower half of the league - that's unacceptable by almost any normal person's standards.

It's like the HC ranking; every team was asked the exact same questions. The Browns players rated Stefanski the lowest returning coach for the 2025 season.

I think it's important to compare and
see how the Browns have done year to year:
_____________________2024________2025
Treatment of Families__ D- __26th>>> D+__28th
Food/Cafeteria_______ C+__ 18th >>>C-___26th
Nutritionist/Dietician__ C+ __23rd >>>B-___26th
Locker Room ________ D+ __23rd >>>F ___31st
Training Room________C+__ 20th >>>D+__31st
Training Staff ________ B- __ 24th >>>C-__ 32nd
Weight Room ________ D ___30th >>>A ____8th
Strength Coaches _____B+__ 19th >>>B- __19th
Team Travel _________ D____23rd>>> D __ 28th
Head Coach _________ B- __ 28th >>> C __ 30th
Ownership __________ B ___ 17th >>> C+_ 22nd
OVERALL RANK ___________ 23rd >>>>>> 30th

2025 Overall ranking: 30th
The team continues to grade out near the bottom of the league for a small locker room, understaffed training room and the lack of a family room during home games. Players also didn't speak highly of head coach Kevin Stefanski, saying he's only moderately receptive to locker room feedback. However, players are highly satisfied with a brand-new weight room.

2024 NFLPA STATEMENT SAYS:
"One of our core jobs as a union is to improve the overall working conditions for our players, which includes the daily experience of players at the team facilities away from the lights and cameras.

1,706 of our players provided information to share with one another about their current club, to not only help them make important career decisions, but also help raise standards across the league.

Our goals were to highlight positive clubs, identify areas that could use improvement, and highlight best practices and standards."

Apparently, the Browns FO hasn't received the message since they dropped 7 places from 2024 rankings.

When your biggest complaints are not enough hot tubs and the lockers aren't big enough, those feel like first world problems to me. They're lockers, not walk in closets. You're there to play football, not fashionista. Same with not enough room on a plane. You're a giant human. It's a plane. It is what it is. Some guys just don't like flying period, but you can't really get around it.

Like everything else, I think the ridiculous number of injuries we had was a factor in the perception of things to go along with the losing. Winning makes everything better. Losing makes everything worse.

I hope this doesn't sound like an excuse (it's not intended as one) but I do wonder if this survey is treated as a way to simply vent about the season and the team in general. I'm not trying to make it sound like the results aren't legit, but just that drilling down into certain parts of the results may not give much in the way of actionable info.

The two that my eye are drawn to are the Team Travel and Treatment of Families grades. IIRC, those have consistently ranked very low since at least last year (and I believe it's longer).

Funny you want to go to the injury excuse again causing the record. The 2024 season had injuries too, but the Browns made the playoffs. That winning record and playoff appearance didn't move the needle very far being the 23rd ranked team and - - - the HC was still ranked in the bottom 5 of the league. Winning obviously didn't sway the Browns players very much.

Some of these things are easy fixes. Why the Browns front office continually ignores these fixable items lends credence to why the Browns continue to fail. I mean think about it, the Browns FO has flushed $230M down the toilet on a suspect character QB but they can't invest a couple of million on a better locker room or family accommodations for post-game?

Maybe if the fans stop making excuses for this team, FO, and owner and show their disdain for what is happening might help turn on the lightbulb.

Easy fixes. Would be nice.



The Bengals have the top rank for most room (in the individual lockers.) It looks nice, but is it really a ton of room?

You're building a new stadium. How much do you want to invest at the old one?

Family accommodations sounds great. Where are you putting them in the old stadium? 53 families take up a lot of space. I'm guessing it'll be addressed at the new stadium.

You have to work within the confines of what's possible. You can't just magic a huge space into an old stadium. It's mostly concrete. It doesn't have the modern more open construction.

Fans/the city want the team to stay at the stadium, but it is just not competitive as far as being able to offer what the players want.

I don't know what the reasons are behind some of the low grades we got. However, Jimmy Haslam, being the fan and players first owner that he is and tirelessly working to bring the first Super Bowl championship to Cleveland, is already working on solutions to make our situation better, He's going to build a beautiful state of the art domed stadium isn't he? Problems solved!

Here you go Mac and Steve. This is part of a convo I had with somebody who worked for the Browns and now works for the NFL.


Brian Plate The locker room score is a bit harsh. Both the facility and the stadium locker rooms are not that bad compared to other team’s facilities. I go to about a fourth of the league’s facilities every year and there is no way that we are the worst.


I also have to question anything that scores an F-.... it it was possible to get an F- I would have done it in High School.

I would never question your expertise or contacts on any specific problem. Your contact may be 1000% correct in his evaluation but he, you, nor I participated in the survey, it was the 2024 team members, and they feel differently obviously by the ranking. I'm not even saying that the players are correct in their evaluation, but they did rate the Browns extremely low so there's a disconnect somewhere.

I guess my point is, if the players continually rate you low on these items (family, locker-room, training staff and room, HC), what are you doing to address their concerns. Or, are you taking the stance of "Oh. it's not that bad" and continuing to ignore your player's concerns? I not even trying to say to caudle the players but at least 2-years running, the players have rated the Browns as one on the worst in the entire NFL. Continuing to ignore the players will have very negative pushback. Remember, every player in the NFL sees these results too. Is this really the mask the Browns want to be wearing when potential players are looking at Cleveland?

Actions or inaction has consequences.

I guess I question any survey that says the Steeler ownership is below Browns Ownership..

And this is my problem with the entire "report card". Players aren't going from team to team experiencing what all 32 programs have. It's their siloed opinion of one location without knowing all that is out there. Sure, some players playing for multiple teams can reflect on what they had, but even that might not be accurate if a former team upgraded in one form or fashion.

The premise of this entire scoring process is flawed from the jump.

I don't pay much attention to the score.

There are always going to be a few malcontents who are going to grade low. All teams have some of those people. You also factor in you are dealing with a small sample size. It doesn't take many low grades v a few higher grades on another team to make it look like we suck and they don't.

Take team travel as an example. What does that even mean? All the teams stay pretty much in the same Marriott hotels. I think all teams charter a jet. Maybe we bus to Pittsburgh which doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

Food service, what does that mean? Bad cooks who prepare crappy food? Bad seats or they have to sit next to someone?

Treatment of families...I can get that. That is all about the stadium. At any given home game you might a several hundred people you need to seat and hold. That is a stadium issue, not a team problem. There isn't anywhere in the stadium to be able to do that to provide an enclosed space for 300 people with dedicated seating and food service.

We go through this every year. Just like a team, this board has its own malcontents looking to complain about ownership and the team in general.

Key word being "feel". Often times peoples feelings are not the reality. Sadly in today's society people are often times confused about the difference between the two. If I played for a team with a 3-14 record my feelings about things would certainly slant towards the negative.

I have to disagree with your statement that you are dealing with a small sample size. When the NFLPA dropped team report cards, they were compiled from survey responses of 1,695 active players.

If you take into account that there are 51 roster spots on a team, 32 teams x 51 players = 1,632 players. In 2024, the NFLPA announced they had 2,125 active player members. Calculating that total active player number, the participation rate is about 79.8%. JMHO, I don't think 79.8% represents a small sample size. In fact, it's quite the opposite.

All the players didn't survey all the teams, though. They only did their own. You're really looking at 79.8 percent of 53 (maybe 90.)

j/c

It's a line in the sand. That's all. It's not definitive. It's not conclusive - but it is the only such 'insight' we have.

Are some of the players spoiled or entitled? Are some possibly affected by losing and seeing Watson not trying but given special treatment? Did some use it as a way to protest regardless of their true feelings on the subject. . . . Probably in some cases. But that may also cut across all teams and all players to a greater or lesser extent with the exception of the 'losing'.

So as a line in the sand and as any kind of barometer - its a bad look on the Browns and a bad look on the HC of the Browns. Is it going to change anything? I doubt it. Are potential free agents going to pay it any sort of attention when making a decision - I highly doubt it. But it's still some sort of insight into how players feel and the window dressing and deflection and excuses is just that.

This is kinda the reason I pointed out I preferred to look at the results throughout the years. There are certain grades that are consistent.

A lot of those grades are tied to the stadium that they've been trying to move out of for as long as I can remember.

I don't think retrofitting a few C-130s with couches is legal for a civilian operation. Can't really charter each player a private jet every game, and even then some guys might just be claustrophobic/uncomfortable flying. What really are the options there? What are other teams doing differently with regards to not enough room on planes? Is there a plane with enough room for Dawand Jones?

If you do not think hasben is a terrible owner name the owner he has outmanaged?
Prosecution rests
If your employees say your garbage then you probably are!!

I just want to point out how these are graded.



The Browns provide daycare on gameday. They are one of only 10 teams that do not offer a family room during home games.

Players rate the post-game family area 5.30 out of 10, ranking them 31 out of 32 teams.
The players feel that the team organizes family events several times a year, which ranks 15 out of 32.

The players believe that the coaches’ families are treated better than players’ families. For example, the coaches’ families have a post-game meet up inside the stadium, while the players’ families meet in a tent in the parking lot.
So we have a bad rating because we provide day care for the games but we don't offer a family room for all the families. We do however provide a family room for after the games but it's not fancy enough. The team organizes family events but not enough to keep everybody happy.



Food / Dining Area
Grade/Rank
C-
26th out of 32 teams

The Cleveland Browns rate the taste of their team’s food 6.57 out of 10, a ranking of 27 out of 32.
They rate the freshness of their food 7.42 out of 10, a ranking of 25 out of 32.
The players rate their dining area 7.15 out of 10, ranking it 29 out of 32 NFL team dining areas.


Opinions vary but I can say the food is better than most things I order at restaurants.



Nutritionist / Dietician
Grade/Rank
B-
26th out of 32 teams

82% of players report that they get an individualized nutrition plan, ranking the Browns 17 out of 32 teams.
The players feel that their team dietician is moderately accessible, a ranking of 26 out of 32.



Locker Room
Grade/Rank
F-
31st out of 32 teams

39% of players feel they have enough room in their individual lockers, a ranking of 32 out of 32.
29% of players feel the locker room size is adequate, ranking the Browns 31 out of 32 teams.

I'm seeing a real pattern here. Most of these complaints can be fixed with a new stadium, and some work in Berea HMMMMMMMM seams to me both are in the process already.


teams.

Training Room
Grade/Rank
D+
31st out of 32 teams

79% of Browns players feel they have enough full-time trainers, ranking them 27 out of 32 teams.
68% of players feel they have enough full-time physical therapists, a rank of 28 out of 32.
50% of players feel they have enough hot tub space, a rank of 32 out of 32.
71% of players feel they have enough cold tub space, a rank of 29 out of 32.

The players report that the training room is understaffed. Since the players responded to the survey, the Browns have hired two additional staff members, improving coverage significantly.




Training Staff
Grade/Rank
C-
32nd out of 32 teams

69% of Browns players report that they receive enough one-on-one training treatment, ranking them 31 out of 32 teams.
The players feel that the training staff slightly contributes to their overall success, ranking them 32 of 32.




Weight Room
Grade/Rank
A
8th out of 32 teams

The players report that the weight room equipment is high quality, ranking them 8 out of 32 teams.
The players feel that they have more than enough room to train in the weight room, a ranking of 9 out of 32.

The Browns built a brand-new state-of-the-art weight room this past offseason.


Strength Coaches
Grade/Rank
B+
19th out of 32 teams

96% of players report that they get an individualized training plan from their strength coaching staff, ranking the team 10 out of 32.
The players feel that their strength coaches moderately contribute to their overall success, a rank of 22 out of 32 teams.



Team Travel
Grade/Rank
D
28th out of 32 teams

60% of the Browns players believe they have a comfortable amount of personal space on team flights, ranking them 27 out of 32.
The players feel that their team’s travel schedule is not very efficient, a rank of 28 out of 32 teams.



Head Coach
Grade/Rank
C
30th out of 32 teams

67% of Browns players feel their head coach Kevin Stefanski is efficient with their time, a rank of 29 out of 32.
The players feel that Stefanski is moderately receptive to locker room feedback on the team’s needs, ranking him 30 of 32 head coaches in the league.


Ownership
Grade/Rank
C+
22nd out of 32 teams

Owner Jimmy Haslam’s average rating for perceived willingness to invest in the facilities is 7.98 out of 10 from the Browns players, a ranking of 21 out of 32 owners in the league.
The players believe that ownership slightly contributes to a positive team culture, a rank of 29 out of 32.
The players feel that ownership is somewhat committed to building a competitive team, a rank of 29 of the 32 NFL owners.

Wondering to myself why nobody has pointed out that the Steelers rated their ownership as a D??


However don't compare us to the Ravens YIKES


*Wondering in my own mind*

Lets see if Jimmy is as bad as people say he is.... I'm not defending him here. and Everybody around here raves about the Steelers ownership, and this damn survey is not a total waste of time then please SOMEBODY explain to me how the Steelers own players rate their ownership as a D, while the Browns players rate Jimmy as a C+ ????

Wasn't the food rated really good a couple years ago?

If the players don't like the food they can always order out!!!

From my original post starting this thread:


"A few things that I thought were interesting:

Browns ownership (C+) got a higher grade than Head coach (C)
Stealers ownership got a D"

Well my old blind ass missed that one. Sorry bro.

No apology needed

When I posted it, I did expect more comments about it