Three names have emerged as finalists in the NFL Players Association’s search for a permanent executive director, according to reports from ESPN and The Athletic.
The list includes interim executive director David White, former NFLPA president and later chief strategy officer JC Tretter and American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti, as first reported by ESPN.
The NFLPA’s 32 player representatives could be asked to vote on the position at their annual meeting on March 13-18 in San Diego.
The search followed the resignation of NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell Jr. last July, one month after a series of controversies were revealed, including a reported conflict of interest and a decision to hide key parts of an arbitration ruling from the players.
Howell lasted only two years after the former chief financial officer of technology consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton was selected by a 10-person NFLPA executive committee. The NFLPA was criticized for what was viewed by some as a secretive 16-month process that led to Howell’s hiring.
He was replaced by former player Tretter, the NFLPA’s chief strategy officer, but he also stepped down in the wake of the Howell controversy after he had presided over the search process. Tretter told ESPN in 2025 that confidentiality in the search process became more important after leaks to the media in previous elections.
Labor executive White has been in charge of the NFLPA on an interim basis since August.
NFLPA president Jalen Reeves-Maybin, a linebacker with the Chicago Bears, in a statement published by ESPN on Friday, said the executive committee is “conducting a comprehensive search that includes a strong pool of highly qualified candidates. Out of respect for the integrity of the process and those involved, we will not comment on or disclose individual names.”
A finalist when Howell was picked for the post in 2023, White has labor experience as national executive director and chief negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) from 2009-21.
Tretter, who played offensive line for the Green Bay Packers (2014-16) and Cleveland Browns (2017-21), was player president of the NFLPA from 2020-24. He told CBS Sports upon his resignation that he wasn’t involved in the confidentiality agreement that Howell made with the league to keep from players an arbitrator’s rulings on possible collusion by NFL owners.
Pernetti, the American Conference commissioner since June 2024, is a former president of IMG Academy, an athletic powerhouse boarding school in Bradenton, Fla.
Media reports listed other candidates, who are not finalists, as former players Dominique Foxworth, Matt Schaub and Jeff Saturday. Former NFLPA president Foxworth (2012-14) and Saturday, who are now ESPN commentators, said they were interviewed by the firm running the search but not by the executive committee.
Schaub, a former player rep and candidate for the post in 2023, did not respond to attempts for comment, per ESPN.
–Field Level Media
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