The NFL Players Association alleges the league and its teams colluded to keep players from receiving fully guaranteed contracts.

In a report published Tuesday, The Athletic said that on Oct. 20, NFL general counsel Jeff Pash sent a confidential memo to team executive leadership notifying them that the NFL had filed the claim.

The memo, obtained by The Athletic, includes comments from the NFLPA’s filing. The basis centers around quarterback Deshaun Watson signing a fully guaranteed contract with the Cleveland Browns and the players association anticipating “fully-guaranteed contracts would now become the competition driven norm for the top players in the League, including quarterbacks, negotiating new contracts.”

Pash said in the memo the NFLPA alleges “NFL owners and/or League executives discussed not agreeing to any additional player contracts with fully-guaranteed salaries” before, after and at the owners meeting on Aug. 9.

The Browns gave up a bounty of draft picks to acquire Watson from the Houston Texans in March and signed him to a five-year, $230 million contract. The move, at the time, was seen as especially curious given that Watson was the subject of two dozen civil lawsuits filed by women who accused him of sexual impropriety during massages.

While no criminal charges were filed, the NFL suspended him 11 games for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy and fined him $5 million.

Arizona signed Kyler Murray and the Broncos re-upped with trade acquisition Russell Wilson, but those lucrative deals were not 100 percent guaranteed. Negotiations between the Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson have reportedly been hung up on that very detail — whether his deal would be fully guaranteed.

Pash said the NFLPA is asking for an arbitrator to award damages and allow “certain quarterbacks who have been adversely affected by the collusive agreement to terminate their current player contracts. We are aware of no evidence supporting these collusion claims, which we will vigorously defend.”

One NFL executive told The Athletic there was no agreement organized among owners.

“They don’t need to collude to do that,” the unidentified executive told The Athletic. “The Browns are the only team willing to do that. Everybody else knows that it was a terrible contract.”

–Field Level Media

Masks are back in full force in the Dallas Cowboys’ locker room after a second day with multiple players reporting to work sick.

The Cowboys excused multiple players from their walkthrough on Monday due to illness, including defensive linemen Johnathan Hankins, Dante Fowler and Tarell Basham. Cornerback Kelvin Joseph left the game at Minnesota on Sunday with an illness. Punter Brian Anger and nose tackle Quinton Bohanna were listed as questionable entering Week 11 due to illness.

Head coach Mike McCarthy said the team would take precautions to prevent further spread of the non-COVID illness and some players checked into the team facility in Frisco, Texas, in protection masks.

Dallas has a 4:25 p.m. ET kickoff on Thanksgiving Day with the New York Giants.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, speaking Tuesday morning to 105.3 FM The Fan in Dallas, said linebacker Micah Parsons (knee, ankle) did not have an MRI exam but plans to be on the field this week. He will be limited during light practices this week.

Jones said left tackle Tyron Smith is not ready to be activated from August surgery but, when he is, the owner declared Smith the left tackle over rookie Tyler Smith.

Tyler Smith moved to left guard late in the Week 11 win to get in-game reps at the position.

–Field Level Media

Former Panthers coach Matt Rhule welcomes another chance to coach and knows a few changes he would implement should he get another spin at the wheel.

Rhule was fired after starting 1-4 after two-plus seasons and an 11-27 record in Carolina.

“It didn’t end the way I wanted it to. But I’m proud I never lost the locker room,” Rhule said Tuesday in an NFL Network interview. “I’m proud those guys fought and stood up for me til the very end. I hope I get another chance to coach. I’d do some things better football-wise.”

Rhule said he didn’t have strong enough relationships with players in his first two years in the NFL.

The Panthers are 3-8 and would currently have the second pick in the 2023 draft if the season ended Tuesday. Carolina plays the Denver Broncos on Sunday, but has yet to identify a starting quarterback — an issue that helped deck Rhule’s run as Panthers’ coach.

Rhule said the Panthers should take a long look at current interim head coach Steve Wilks.

“Steve Wilks deserves a chance to be a head coach in the (NFL). He’s a leader of men,” Rhule said. “And if this league needs 1 thing, if football needs 1 thing, we need diversity in our coaching hires. We need diversity in coaching searches. I think Steve’s done a really nice job.”

The Panthers owe Rhule $40 million as part of the contract he signed to leave Baylor and take over in Carolina.

–Field Level Media

If the season ended Monday night in Mexico, the Houston Texans would comfortably hold the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft.

The Texans (1-8-1) hold the top pick based on win-loss records through Week 11, ahead of the Carolina Panthers (3-8) and Chicago Bears (3-8).

Houston would also pick seventh, a selection owed the Texans as part of the Deshaun Watson trade with the Cleveland Browns (3-7).

The Texans and Panthers are unsettled at quarterback, with Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s CJ Stroud projected to be among the top passers in the draft. Field Level Media rates Alabama pass rusher Will Anderson as the No. 1 prospect entering December.

Seattle is in the playoff picture — 6-4 and in second place in the NFC West by virtue of a tiebreaker held by the first-place 49ers — but also sitting pretty with the No. 5 overall pick, behind the Las Vegas Raiders (3-7). The Seahawks own the first-round pick and prime draft position as a result of their March trade with the Denver Broncos for quarterback Russell Wilson.

The Broncos (3-7) have lost consecutive games and play the Panthers on Sunday, which will have big draft implications.

Streaking Detroit, winners of three in a row with the traditional Thanksgiving game ahead, is currently sixth. The Lions’ pick is also a result of a trade — with the Los Angeles Rams — for their former franchise quarterback, Matthew Stafford. The Lions would also pick 13th, their own choice.

Here is the current top 15 in the 2023 draft based on team records through Week 11:

1. Houston Texans
2. Carolina Panthers
3. Chicago Bears
4. Las Vegas Raiders
5. Seattle Seahawks (from DEN)
6. Detroit Lions (from LAR)
7. Houston Texans (from CLE)
8. Pittsburgh Steelers
9. Jacksonville Jaguars
10. Philadelphia Eagles (from NO)
11. Arizona Cardinals
12. Green Bay Packers
13. Detroit Lions
14. Indianapolis Colts
15. Atlanta Falcons

–Field Level Media

Washington Commanders standout defensive end Chase Young will miss at least one more week as he is not quite ready to return from a torn right ACL and MCL.

The Commanders did not activate Young to the 53-man roster on Saturday, meaning he won’t be able to play until Nov. 27 against the Atlanta Falcons at the earliest.

Young, 23, began the season on the physically unable to perform list and was designated to return to practice on Nov. 2, opening a 21-day window for his return to the active roster. Coach Ron Rivera said Friday that Young would be activated by Wednesday at the latest.

The No. 2 overall pick in the 2020 draft, Young had 7.5 sacks that season and was named Defensive Rookie of the Year and a Pro Bowl selection. He had 1.5 sacks in nine games last season before his knee injury last Nov. 14.

Also Saturday, running back J.D. McKissic was placed on injured reserve due to a neck injury that will sideline him for the remainder of the season, NFL Network reported.

The Commanders only announced Saturday that McKissic and tight end Armani Rogers were placed on injured reserve, and that linebacker Nathan Gerry was elevated from the practice squad.

No timeline was given for McKissic or Rogers to return.

McKissic has been idle for Washington’s past two games. He last played in the Commanders’ 17-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 30, during which he carried twice for six yards and had three receptions for 14 yards.

McKissic, 29, has 22 carries for 95 yards and 27 receptions for 173 yards in eight games this season.

He has rushed for 1,074 yards and four touchdowns and has 220 catches for 1,674 yards and seven scores in 70 career games (14 starts) with the Seattle Seahawks (2016-18), Detroit Lions (2019) and Washington franchise.

Rogers, 24, has five receptions for 64 yards in 10 games this season for the Commanders.

Gerry, 27, has played in two games this season.

Gerry totaled 163 tackles, 3.5 sacks and three interceptions in 46 career games (22 starts) with the Philadelphia Eagles. He was selected by Philadelphia in the fifth round of the 2017 NFL Draft out of Nebraska.

–Field Level Media