Why NFL fans don't care about collusion

The blockbuster Dolphins-Steelers trade that sent Dolphins cornerback Jaylen Ramsey to the Steelers for safety Minkah Fitzpatrick on Monday was a blow to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio's crusade to get NFL media to publicize the revelation in Pablo Torre's "Pablo Torres Finds Out" podcast that the NFL advised owners to limit guarantees in long-term contracts and that the league and NFL Players Association conspired to hide an arbitrator's January ruling on that collusion case.

System Arbitrator Christopher Droney, a retired U.S. Court of Appeals judge hired by the NFL and NFLPA, actually dismissed the NFLPA's claim because the evidence didn't prove collusion. But he did acknowledge that NFL owners indeed advised, encouraged — seemingly everything but demanded — that teams refrain from giving guaranteed contracts in the aftermath of the Browns' five-year, $230 million contract in 2022, with all $230 million guaranteed.

Watson, even outside of his off-the-field issues that have clouded his entire time with the Browns, has been a disaster. In three seasons, the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback with the Texans, has started 19 games and is 9-10, with an 80.7 passer rating (19 touchdowns, 12 interceptions). He's served one suspension and had two season-ending injuries in his three seasons.

The collusion story, while good journalism by Torre and Floria, has gotten virtually zero traction, despite it coming at the absolute quietest time in the NFL calendar — after offseason programs have concluded and still a month before players report for training camp. Florio criticized the NFL, the NFLPA, the league's media partners (ESPN, NFL Network, Fox) and non-league affiliated NFL media for not giving the story the play he feels it deserves — if not ignoring it completely.

And let the record show that in an era of social media when virtually every NFL fan has a voice that can be heard around the globe, NFL fans are not clamoring for information. In fact, based on the social media response, it's fair to argue they don't care.

And there's a good reason for that. A collusion story isn't going to resonate when Jordan Love and Trevor Lawrence are making $55 million a year — Love with $160 million guaranteed and Lawrence with $200 million guaranteed — with one playoff win between them. Or when Daniel Jones signs a four-year, $160 million contract with $92 million guaranteed that is an albatross in Year 1 and dead in the water in Year 2. (Jones was benched and then released 10 weeks into the second year of the deal.) Sorry, but quarterback contracts — and NFL contracts in general, except maybe running backs until this year — are not the problem.

Comparing sports leagues to free-market corporations is always a bad argument. Coke doesn't need Pepsi to compete in the beverage market. Without competition they would make more money then ever. NFL teams need each other to exist. Without competition, any NFL team is out of business. The entity is the NFL.

The NFL is guilty of telling its owners to not be stupid, and to think twice about giving guaranteed money for non-guaranteed performance. If that's a conspiracy, it's one a lot of fans are on board with. Because — as fans are painfully aware of too often — guaranteed contracts can be detrimental, especially in a sport where production is dependent on so many other factors (coaching, supporting cast, health, etc.).

Watson's cap hit will be $35.97 million in 2025, per spotrac.com, even though he likely won't play while he recovers from an Achilles injury (even if he were healthy, that's a cap hit that doesn't match his production). Jones has a $22.2 million cap hit with the Giants in 2025 and he's with the Colts this season. Russell Wilson has a $32 cap hit with the Broncos in 2025 and he's with the Giants entering the 2025 season.

Reporter Pablo Torre's story on the arbitrator's decision in the NFL Players Association's grievance against the NFL for collusion was not totally ignored. ESPN's Kalyn Kahler wrote a story on it on June 24, the day it appeared on Torre's podcast, "Pablo Torre Finds Out." But it has not resonated with general NFL media, or NFL fans.

Even with the NFL salary cap growing at a record pace (from $224.8 million in 2023 to more than $277.5 million in 2025), that's cap space (and actual money) going to failed quarterbacks that isn't going to productive players. And even fans who revile NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, the league owners and the NFL shield in general aren't going to castigate owners for trying to avoid bad contracts.

That's at least one reason why fans are not demanding that somebody finds out what the owners knew and when they knew it. NFL players still get 48% of league revenue, per the collective bargaining agreement, regardless of guaranteed money in long-term deals. Like Mike Florio, fans want to see the players get what they've earned. But more and more of those fans also want to see the players earn what they've gotten. It's hard to find a scandalous injustice in that.