Despite judge’s frustrations, NFL continues arbitration quest in Brian Flores case – NBC Sports
Despite judge’s frustrations, NFL continues arbitration quest in Brian Flores case
- By
- Mike Florio,
- By
- Mike Florio
  Published August 20, 2026 01:24 PM
Last month, the federal judge handling the Brian Flores case sent a very clear message to the NFL that it was time to end the arbitration quest and start defending the claims on the merits
The NFL didn’t get the message. At least not completely
While some of the claims in the Flores case have moved to the discovery process, the league has appealed Judge Valerie Caproni’s most recent ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as to Flores’s claims against the Dolphins, Steve Wilks’s claims against the Cardinals, and Ray Horton’s claims against the Titans
In all three cases, the plaintiffs had contracts with those teams containing arbitration clauses that referred any disputes to the Commissioner or his designee. Still, the overriding problem (as multiple courts have concluded) comes from the effort to delegate the judge/jury role to the NFL
There’s a big difference between arguing to the court and arguing with the court. The NFL currently seems to be trying to convince multiple courts that they’re wrong
Either way, multiple claims in the Flores case will continue to be stuck at square one. Which will serve only to slow down any effort to get the four-year-old case ready for trial
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