NFLPA has three executive director finalists, including David White and JC Tretter

The NFL Players Association is moving toward the hiring of a new executive director.

Despite proceeding with maximum secrecy, the NFLPA has not managed to prevent the names of the three finalists for the job from trickling out.

Don Van Natta Jr. and Kalyn Kahler of ESPN.com report that the candidates for the job are interim executive director David White, former NFLPA chief strategy officer JC Tretter, and American Conference commissioner Tim Pernetti.

NFLPA president Jaylen Reeves-Maybin said in a statement to ESPN.com that the union's executive committee is "conducting a comprehensive search that includes a strong pool of highly qualified candidates," and that "[o]ut of respect for the integrity of the process and those involved, we will not comment on or disclose individual names."

When the NFLPA hired Lloyd Howell in 2023, the union kept all candidates under wraps during and after the process. The name of the other finalist (White) didn't leak until months later.

It was widely believed that White took the interim job in the hopes of landing the permanent position. Tretter's re-emergence is a surprise, given his direct role in the hiring of Howell, who abruptly resigned after a string of scandals.

Howell later hired Tretter into the newly-created position of chief strategy officer, with some believing that Howell had delegated many responsibilities to Tretter, and that Tretter aspired to succeed Howell.

Pernetti, 55, became commissioner of the American Conference in 2024. Before that, Pernetti had served as president of the IMG Academy since 2015. From 2013 through 2015, Pernetti was the chief business officer of New York City FC of the MLS.

Pernetti, who has no experience working for labor unions, worked in television for more than a decade before becoming the Athletic Director at Rutgers in 2009. He resigned from the position in 2013 following a firestorm that emerged when he failed to fire men's basketball coach Mike Rice after a video surfaced of Rice abusing players. As Van Natta reported at the time, the video showed Rice "hurling basketballs from close range at his players' heads, legs and feet; shoving and grabbing his players; feigning punching them; kicking them; and screaming obscenities and homophobic slurs."

Per the report, the other candidates for the job were former NFLPA president Domonique Foxworth, former NFL quarterback Matt Schaub, and Jeff Saturday, a former NFL player who was heavily involved in the negotiations that resolved the 2011 lockout.

Foxworth, who now works for ESPN, offered this quote for the article: "I'm extremely disappointed. I hope they get it right this time."

They clearly got it wrong last time. This time, it's fair to wonder whether the person who finished as the runner-up to Howell, the person who was heavily involved in hiring and working with Howell, and someone with no apparent union experience are the best three options for such an important position — at such a critical time for the NFLPA.