NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. resigned from his position late Thursday (July 17) night, ending his two-year tenure amid scrutiny.

"It’s clear that my leadership has become a distraction to the important work the NFLPA advances every day," Howell said in a statement shared by the NFLPA. "For this reason, I have informed the NFLPA Executive Committee that I am stepping down as Executive Director of the NFLPA and Chairman of the Board of NFL Players effective immediately. I hope this will allow the NFLPA to maintain its focus on its player members ahead of the upcoming season."

Howell reportedly resigned by choice, which came as a surprise of some of the NFLPA's 10-member executive committee, which had selected him for the position. Earlier this month, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to ESPN that the NFL and the NFL Players Association's senior leaders reportedly agreed to hide findings that the league urged team owners to collude in an effort to reduce player compensation.

Arbitrator Christopher Droney had previously ruled there wasn't sufficient evidence of collusion by NFL owners following the Browns' 2022 signing of quarterback Deshaun Watson in January, as any such collusions to keep salaries down would violate the league and its union's collective bargaining agreement. Droney did, however, conclude that the NFLPA showed "by a clear preponderance of the evidence" that Commissioner Roger Goodell and NFL general counsel Jeff Pash urged the league's owners to restrict guaranteed money in players contracts, which was kept as a secret until the document was published by the Pablo Torre Finds Out podcast two weeks ago.

On Tuesday (July 8), the NFLPA decided to seek an appeal of the ruling, a senior union source confirmed to ESPN.

"The appeal is a reflection of our obligation to enforce the CBA and our commitment to protecting our players' interests," the source said. "We'll do what's best for players and we'll exhaust our options in doing so."

The arbitration case was initially launched in relation to Watson's five-year, $230 million contract with the Browns and whether those talks affected negotiations with fellow quarterbacks Kyler Murray, Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson, none of whom signed guaranteed deals.

Bill Cunningham