New NFL CTE Study Finds at Least 1 in 4 Former Players Had CTE at Death as 2015 Settlement Cutoff Stands

A new peer-reviewed study found confirmed chronic traumatic encephalopathy in at least 24.5% of former NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021, substantially expanding the scientific record a decade after federal courts upheld the league's concussion settlement and its cutoff for new Death with CTE awards.

The study, published Tuesday in The BMJ, identified 1,712 former NFL players who died between 2008 and 2021. Researchers examined the brains of 338 players, with 315, or 93.2%, diagnosed with CTE, a degenerative brain disease associated with repeated head impacts.

Researchers focused their prevalence estimate on 2016 through 2021, when brain donations were most frequent. Of 878 former NFL players who died during those years, 235 had their brains examined, and 215 had CTE. Even if none of the remaining 643 players had the disease, confirmed cases represented 24.5% of the entire group.

Researchers described that figure as a minimum estimate. The finding does not mean that one-quarter of living or active NFL players have CTE, which currently can be definitively diagnosed only after death. The study also could not determine how many players whose brains were not examined may have had the disease.

The research found a relationship between advanced CTE and dementia. Among the donated brains, 104 showed stage IV CTE. More than 90% of those players had dementia, and advanced CTE was associated with a 44% higher prevalence of dementia after researchers adjusted for other factors.

Thousands of former players previously sued the NFL, alleging that the league knew about the long-term risks of repeated head trauma but failed to adequately warn or protect them. The cases were consolidated in federal court in Pennsylvania and ultimately resolved through a class-action settlement that became effective in 2017.

Qualifying retired players can receive awards for several neurological conditions, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ALS, and specified levels of neurocognitive impairment. The agreement also recognizes "Death with CTE" as a qualifying diagnosis, but only within a limited timetable.

For most Death with CTE claims, a player had to die before April 22, 2015, when U.S. District Judge Anita Brody granted final approval to the settlement. A board-certified neuropathologist also generally had to make the post-mortem diagnosis before that date. A limited exception provided additional time for players who died between preliminary approval in July 2014 and final approval in April 2015.

The new study does not change that deadline. A former player who dies today and is diagnosed with CTE at autopsy cannot receive a new Death with CTE award under the settlement based on that diagnosis alone. Retired players covered by the agreement can still seek compensation for other qualifying neurological conditions if they satisfy the settlement's medical requirements.

When the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit reviewed the settlement in 2016, objectors argued that it was unfair to release future CTE-related claims while ending compensation for new Death with CTE diagnoses after the cutoff. The appeals court upheld the agreement.

The scientific record was far more limited at the time. The Third Circuit noted that only about 200 brains with CTE had been examined and cited the district court's description of research into the disease as "nascent." Researchers had not reliably established how common CTE was, which exposures increased the risk, or what symptoms people with the disease typically experienced while alive.

The court also rejected the argument that players received nothing in exchange for releasing future CTE claims. It found that the settlement compensated living retired players for qualifying neurological impairments without requiring families to wait for a post-mortem CTE diagnosis. Players with qualifying conditions also do not have to prove that playing in the NFL caused their diagnosis.

A decade later, researchers have a much larger body of evidence. The new BMJ study identified 315 confirmed CTE cases among the 338 former NFL players whose brains were examined from the broader group that died between 2008 and 2021. Researchers also attempted to establish a minimum prevalence among all deceased former players during the years when brain donations were most frequent.

Despite the expanded scientific record, the Third Circuit enforced the settlement cutoff again last month.

On July 27, the appeals court affirmed the denial of Death with CTE claims brought by Robin Cornish and Carleen Hastings, whose family members had played in the NFL. In a nonprecedential decision, the court found the settlement language unambiguous and held that the required post-mortem diagnoses were obtained after the deadline.

The court declined to reinterpret the agreement based on later materials or arguments about how the diagnostic requirement should operate. Under the settlement, both the player's death and required diagnosis generally had to occur before April 22, 2015.

The settlement remains active. As of August 17, 2026, 20,569 retired players were registered as class members. The program had approved 2,199 payable monetary awards totaling more than $1.71 billion, and qualifying claims can continue to be paid during the agreement's 65-year term.

The settlement also continues to generate disputes over individual claims. Special Masters have issued a series of decisions in 2026 addressing whether former players met the requirements for neurocognitive impairment awards, whether medical evidence supported qualifying diagnoses, and how settlement rules affected compensation. Those decisions show how eligibility continues to depend on the agreement's medical and procedural requirements.

Class members who did not opt out remain bound by the settlement and its release of the concussion-related claims it resolved. Courts have continued to treat the agreement as a contract whose terms and deadlines must be enforced.

The settlement does not cover every player who has competed in the NFL since it was reached. Its retired-player class was defined around players who had retired or otherwise stopped playing before preliminary approval on July 7, 2014. Later generations of NFL players therefore are not necessarily bound by the same settlement and release.

For players outside the settlement class, the expanding research on CTE could become relevant in future disputes over what was known about the risks of repeated head impacts and when those risks became established. Any claim would still depend on its own facts and applicable law, including questions of causation, filing deadlines, collective bargaining, and workers' compensation.

The NFL said in response to the study that it continues working to make football safer through efforts aimed at reducing concussions and head impacts. The league also pointed to health and wellness resources available to former players.

When the Third Circuit upheld the settlement in 2016, it cited a scientific record in which only about 200 brains with CTE had been examined and significant questions about the disease remained unresolved. The new BMJ study identified 315 confirmed CTE cases among former NFL players alone and found confirmed disease in at least 24.5% of those who died during its best-observed six-year period.

For retired players bound by the concussion settlement, those findings do not change the 2015 cutoff. The Third Circuit's July decision shows that courts continue to enforce the agreement under its existing terms.