Recently re-signed by the Lions, Jalen Reeves-Maybin will take on a high-profile off-field post as well. The NFLPA elected the veteran linebacker to be its next president.
NFLPA presidents are elected by the board of player reps; Reeves-Maybin will succeed former center JC Tretter in the role. Tretter held the job for four years, being elected in March 2020. Reeves-Maybin had previously served as NFLPA vice president.
While Tretter’s appointment came just after players ratified the current CBA, the former Packers and Browns blocker was in place as COVID-19 changed the NFL for a stretch.
That brought a host of challenges in multiple seasons, most notably a 2020 campaign that featured a radically adjusted offseason program and many venues without fans due to the pandemic. Reeves-Maybin will enter his union presidency on smoother terrain.
Tretter’s four-year term follows Eric Winston‘s six-year duration in the role. Reeves-Maybin will be the first black NFLPA chief since Domonique Foxworth held the job from 2012-14.
Reeves-Maybin, 29, has seven years of NFL experience — all but one of those seasons coming with the Lions. Primarily working as a backup and special teamer, Reeves-Maybin signed with the Texans in 2022 but returned to Detroit last year.
After earning second-team All-Pro acclaim for special teams work in 2023, Reeves-Maybin agreed to a two-year, $7.5M deal to stay earlier this offseason.
No CBA talks will be in the offing in the immediate future, with the current agreement not expiring until 2031.
A Tennessee alum who arrived in Detroit as a 2017 fourth-round pick, Reeves-Maybin will be working alongside new NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell.