NFLPA polled 1,300 players about their teams. Some report cards — including the Commanders' — are jaw-dropping

INDIANAPOLIS — In arguably the most comprehensive look at how NFL players view the quality of their own teams, the NFL Players Association released a set of eyebrow-raising “team report cards” on Wednesday, laying bare some of the best and worst aspects of the league’s franchises.

The results were taken from a poll sampling more than 1,300 responders — nearly 60 percent of the league’s active players — in an effort to help offer wide-ranging opinion data for those headed to free agency. Union president J.C. Tretter, who played for the Cleveland Browns through the 2021 season, said the goal of the report cards was to help players understand more about the franchises they were weighing in free agency. Simultaneously, it puts franchises on notice when it comes to the areas of their operations that good or bad reviews.

The Minnesota Vikings graded out the highest in the aggregate rankings, while the Washington Commanders were the lowest.

In a note to players accompanying the results of the survey, Tretter wrote: “For many years, players have brought up the idea of creating a ‘Free Agency Guide,’ which would contain information that can help illuminate what that daily experience is like for players and their families from team to team. If knowledge is really power, then providing players with information about each club would not only help them make important career decisions, but it would also help raise the standards across each club.”

Speaking to reporters at the combine on Wednesday, Tretter added that the polling was to inform players as much as it was to put teams on notice about areas of deficiency.

“In general, there was a lot of positives … I don’t want this to just be like a mud-slinging,” Tretter said. “I think there were a lot of examples of teams doing great things for players. [But those thingsare ] put into stark contrast when you hear some of the issues guys are facing [with their teams], it’s sad.”

The report cards scored teams on eight categories: treatment of families, nutrition, weight room, strength staff, training room, training staff, locker room and travel. Each area was graded by players on a scale of A+ (considered exemplary) to F- (essentially zero effort by the team), with thumbnail descriptions that detail why the grades landed where they did. While each team was graded individually based on all the categories, there was an aggregate report card for all the teams.

The report highlighted some interesting inefficiencies. The Cincinnati Bengals, for example, are the only team in the NFL that doesn’t provide supplements to players. The Bengals are also only one of two teams in the league that doesn’t provide vitamins to players, and one of three teams in the league that doesn’t offer dinner as part of their training table. Perhaps not surprisingly, all three of those realities dovetail with longstanding complaints from former Cincinnati players and staffers that parts of the organization are run cheaply by team owner Mike Brown. Overall, the Bengals finished 27th in the league in the aggregate report cards rankings.

There are certainly some surprises in the aggregate report cards, too. The two Super Bowl teams? The Philadelphia Eagles landed 14th overall in the league rankings, while the Kansas City Chiefs were a surprising 29th. Meanwhile, the bottom-dwelling Houston Texans finished fourth — which ranked ahead of the Dallas Cowboys, who were fifth.

The overall aggregate rankings of franchises from best to worst were as follows:

1. Minnesota Vikings
2. Miami Dolphins
3. Las Vegas Raiders
4. Houston Texans
5. Dallas Cowboys
6. Green Bay Packers
7. San Francisco 49ers
8. New York Giants
9. Buffalo Bills
10. New Orleans Saints
11. Seattle Seahawks
12. Carolina Panthers
13. Chicago Bears
14. Philadelphia Eagles
15. Detroit Lions
16. Indianapolis Colts
17. Baltimore Ravens
18. Tennessee Titans
19. New York Jets
20. Denver Broncos
21. Cleveland Browns
22. Pittsburgh Steelers
23. Atlanta Falcons
24. New England Patriots
25. Los Angeles Rams
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
27. Cincinnati Bengals
28. Jacksonville Jaguars
29. Kansas City Chiefs
30. Los Angeles Chargers
31. Arizona Cardinals
32. Washington Commanders

This story will be updated.