(Bloomberg) -- The National Football League Players Association’s new executive director, Lloyd Howell, wants players to eventually become shareholders in the league’s franchises. 

“Cash is one thing, equity is another, why not have both,” Howell said at his inaugural Super Bowl press conference. “If you’re talking about maintaining the integrity of the game and you want your work force to be incentivized to contribute to that, equity could be a vehicle that needs to be explored.”

The league adopted a policy last year that bars players and employees from getting equity in franchises. 

Howell said it’s already happening with the PGA Tour. Last week, the tour approved an investment deal worth as much as $3 billion that will provide almost 200 members with the opportunity to become equity holders in a new company, PGA Tour Enterprises. 

Pro Football Talk reported that New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers tried to negotiate equity in his contract before the league said no. Various media have reported that USC’s Caleb Williams wants a minority stake in the team he ultimately joins. 

“It’s a policy today but not every policy makes sense,” Howell said. “We’re going to have to think through and have a debate and maybe this is a frictional point. If the math can work and it can be a joint win-win, why wouldn’t you want to revisit that policy?”

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