Several unnamed NFL players considering sitting out the upcoming season unless teams sign Colin Kapernick and Eric Reid

The backlash that the National Football League (NFL) has received (examples here and here) for adopting a "stand-or-stay" rule in regards to performances of the U.S. national anthem before NFL games might be just the beginning of the NFL's problems in the upcoming NFL season.

Several NFL players, whose names have not been revealed, have reportedly told Shaun King of the New York Daily News that they are considering sitting out the season unless NFL team(s) sign Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid, two NFL players who are not currently under a contract with any team due to the NFL team owners effectively blacklisting them from the league for protesting against racism in America. Furthermore, King has claimed that the goal of the unnamed players is to get as much as one-quarter of the league's players to sit out with them.

BREAKING: Several star @NFL players have told me they are considering sitting out the season until the de facto ban of Eric Reid and Colin Kaepernick is removed and both men are given spots back on rosters.

They aim to get 25% of the players to sit out with them.

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) May 27, 2018

If one-quarter of active-roster NFL players were to sit out the season, that would significantly lower the quality of play in the NFL, and it would probably result in fans demanding that the players sitting out in protest return to playing football, and the only way the team owners could do that is to have one or two of the owners sign Kaepernick and Reid to NFL teams. If a large number of NFL players go through with such a plan, it might be the only way to convince the NFL team owners to stop appeasing Donald Trump at every opportunity.