I think this is a major "loss" for the players and players' union to be honest. Assuming the settlement was a sign of an admission of guilt. Kaepernick basically received a fraction of what his salary was the last year they had a contract the had to pay legal fees to boot. That's it! That's all the NFL had to come out of pocket for collusion.
Nah, it probably worked like this:
"Look, we can go to court and take our chances, but even IF WE WIN, the lawyer fees are gonna run several million dollars, more than if we settle. On the other hand, we can fork over some cash to him and get rid of him forever (put it behind us by next season), he's going to take a hit for selling out for money (from those who naively believe he belongs here), and it will cost us about half and no risk of losing."
The NFL grossed something like $10 billion, and it turns out the money they gave wasn't that much after all.
Keep this in mind: Kap's celebrity attorney (the same one who supposedly believes Scott Peterson was innocent) was raging all about examining Trump.
That's amazing....because I don't ever recall Trump owning an NFL team.
So Kap gets a fraction of money, some of his supporters (those whose income is below $50K a year) think this is completely awesome and an admission of guilt, some get angry at him for selling out, and the NFL doesn't have the 2019 season swallowed with protests and pending litigation on this as they have the 16, 17, and 18 seasons.
And Geragos gets 1/2 of whatever.
In short, everybody kind of got what they wanted. Even the folks hating on him are happy he's out of the game.
You're correct, though, it's a loss for the players union.
Collusion can VERY easily occur without retribution so long as it's done correctly.
Without a recording, you can't prove me and Owner B ever had a verbal conversation about not employing the guy.