February 5, 2025; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; NFLPA logo at a press conference held in the Super Bowl LIX Media Center at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images As ESPN and The Athletic report, three names have emerged as finalists during the NFL Players Association’s search for an executive director.
As first reported by ESPN, the list includes interim executive director David White, former NFLPA president and incoming chief strategy officer JC Tretter, and American conference commissioner Tim Pernetti.
The NFLPA’s 32 player representatives could be asked to vote on the position at its annual meeting March 13-18 in San Diego.
The search follows the resignation of NFLPA Executive Director Lloyd Howell Jr. in July and comes a month after a series of controversies surfaced, including reports of conflict of interest and the decision to withhold key parts of an arbitration award from players.
Howell lasted just two years after Booz Allen Hamilton, the technology consulting firm’s former chief financial officer, was selected by the 10-member NFLPA Executive Committee. The NFLPA was criticized for what some viewed as the secretive 16-month process that led to Howell’s hiring.
He was replaced by Tritter, the former NFLPA chief strategy officer who led the search process and then resigned amid the Howell controversy. Tretter told ESPN in 2025 that maintaining the confidentiality of the search process has become more important after leaks to the media in previous elections.
White, a Labor official, has been in charge of the NFLPA on an interim basis since August.
Chicago Bears linebacker and NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin said in a statement released by ESPN on Friday that the executive committee is “conducting a comprehensive search that includes a strong pool of highly qualified candidates. To respect the integrity of those involved in the process, we will not be commenting on or disclosing individual names.”
White, who was a finalist when Howell was selected for the position in 2023, has experience serving as national executive director and chief negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) from 2009 to 2021.
Tretter, who played offensive line for the Green Bay Packers (2014-16) and Cleveland Browns (2017-21), served as NFLPA player president from 2020-24. He told CBS Sports after his resignation that he was not involved in the confidentiality agreement Howell signed with the league to protect the arbitrator’s ruling on possible collusion by NFL owners from players.
Pernetti, who has been a member of the American Conference since June 2024, is the former president of IMG Academy, an athletic powerhouse boarding school in Bradenton, Florida.
Other candidates who are not finalists include former players Dominique Foxworth, Matt Schaub and Jeff Saturday, according to media reports. Foxworth, a former NFLPA president from 2012-14 who now serves as an ESPN commentator, said he was interviewed by the company running the search but not by the executive committee.
Schaub, a former player representative and 2023 candidate for the post, did not respond to attempts for comment, according to ESPN.
–Field level media
