NFLPA elects Lloyd Howell to succeed DeMaurice Smith as executive director

For just the fourth time in the history of the NFL Players Association, the labor union has elected a new executive director, announcing Wednesday that businessman Lloyd Howell will succeed DeMaurice Smith by the end of 2024.

Howell is best known as the recent chief financial officer of Booz Allen Hamilton, a consulting firm advertising work with public and private businesses, government and military organizations. He retired from his CFO post in December 2022, per CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones, after a 34-year run with the company.

Technically, Smith, 59, can remain the NFLPA’s executive director into 2024, but it’s possible Howell will officially take over before then. Smith has held the post since 2009, following Gene Upshaw (1983-2008) and Ed Garvey (1971-1983).

The NFLPA began its search to replace Smith last winter, per reports, but Howell’s name hadn’t been publicly floated as a candidate to take over. The NFLPA’s Board of Player Representatives, comprised of current players from all 32 teams, voted to confirm Howell as the union’s new director, who will work alongside current president and retired Browns center JC Tretter.

Smith’s tenure atop the NFLPA is perhaps best known for coinciding with the 2011 NFL lockout. The director helped negotiate the league’s current collective bargaining agreement, which followed a months-long work stoppage during the 2011 offseason, when free agency was delayed until July while owners and players worked toward the new CBA.