Thursday night’s news that NFL Players Association executive director Lloyd Howell has resigned isn’t necessarily the end. It’s possibly the beginning of a two-step process that will result in the NFLPA severing ties with the man most identified with the hiring of Howell in the first place.

All 32 NFL player reps were on a call last night to discuss the next NFLPA executive director. It’s shaping up to be a two-man race: JC Tretter, who has majority support, and Don Davis. There’s other names, but these are the lead candidates, per sources.

Much has been made recently about the collusion grievance filed by the NFLPA against the NFL and the fallout from an arbitrator’s findings on the case being made public.

".....and what of JC Tretter?" Jones wrote. "He is the progenitor of this whole tawdry episode of poseurs, 30 pieces of silver, player leadership manque and avarice. What of him?

While the grievance decision had not been reported publicly before Thursday, the league says it informed teams at its March league meeting.

For the second time in two years, the union will dive into another election process while simultaneously sorting out what went so wrong with the last one.

In the same week that the ruling emerged in the grievance sparked by the efforts of former NFL Players Association president JC Tretter to suggest that disgruntled players should fake injuries, the NFLPA has exercised its prerogative to discharge the arbitrator who ruled against the union.

NFL players must be protected like no other athlete, risking serious injury at video-game speed before the toll makes them expendable.

The NFL and NFLPA concealed another grievance ruling, according to reports weeks after details behind a concealed collusion grievance ruling emerged.