NFLPA team report cards: Dolphins, Vikings finish 1-2 for second straight year; Cardinals graded last
INDIANAPOLIS — For a second consecutive year, the Miami Dolphins are the top-ranked team in the NFL Players Association report card.
The third annual iteration of the NFLPA report card was released Wednesday morning at the NFL Scouting Combine, which was compiled during the 2024 NFL season and had responses from 1,695 players across all 32 teams.
And also for a second straight year, the Minnesota Vikings came in second place behind the Dolphins. The Falcons, Raiders and Chargers rounded out the top five.
JC Tretter, the NFLPA's chief strategy officer, noted Wednesday morning that the gap between fifth and eighth was "close." The Texans, Packers and 49ers were sixth through eighth, in order.
The survey takes into account 11 different categories within teams: treatment of families, food/cafeteria, nutritionist/dietician, locker room, training room, training staff, weight room, strength coaches, team travel, head coach and owner.
The survey also showed the bottom-ranked teams in the NFL. The Steelers ranked 28th, followed by the Jets, Browns and Patriots. The Arizona Cardinals finished in last place after being ranked 27th last year.
Some of the biggest improvements involved the Falcons and Chargers. Atlanta went from 25th to third this year, and the Chargers -- with their sparkling new facilities -- went from 30th to fifth.
The Commanders, who finished in last place in 2024, moved up to 11th with new owner Josh Harris taking seriously the issues from players who dealt with poor facilities and treatment from Dan Snyder, the previous owner of the team.
"You don't have to just build a new facility," NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell said. "Just be responsive. And we see [the owners] are being responsive."
The survey showed there was a 41 percent increase in A's in all the categories from last year. Tretter noted there were three times as many A-pluses than last year. When it came to D-pluses and below, those grades decreased by 51 percent from last year.
"The standard is rising, the floor is rising more than ever before," Tretter said.
As an example, when the NFLPA first began its survey three years ago, 11 teams did not offer daycare for players' families on game day. Last year that decreased to seven. And today it's at three.
Stephen Ross (Dolphins) and Zygi Wilf (Vikings) ranked at the top of ownership in the league. The union broke down the ownership survey into three subcategories: willingness to invest in facilities, contributions to a positive team culture and commitment to building a competitive team.
When it came to willingness to invest in team facilities, the owners who ranked 28th to 32nd were Robert Kraft (Patriots), David Tepper (Panthers), Art Rooney II (Steelers), Michael Bidwill (Cardinals) and Woody Johnson (Jets).
On contributions to a positive team culture, the owners who ranked 28th to 32nd were Bidwill, Jimmy Haslam (Browns), Kraft, Tepper and Johnson.
And for commitment to building a competitive team, the owners who ranked 28th to 32nd were Mike Brown (Bengals), Haslam, Kraft, Johnson and Tepper.
Whether NFL team owners or the league itself is willing to admit it, anecdotal evidence would suggest the annual survey has motivated owners to improve team facilities and other various categories that are surveyed. Commanders owner Josh Harris said last year that he's "not an F-minus guy."
"The owners are competitive, too," Howell said. "Peer pressure matters. They don't want to look like a laggard."
Coaching also matters. Last year the NFLPA surveyed players for their favorite coordinators. Then-Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and then-Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris ranked third and fifth, respectively.
This year, Quinn, now the head coach of the Commanders, got the highest marks as a head coach. And Morris, now the head coach of the Falcons, ranked second.
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