The NFL has been preparing for the expiration of its collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA), complete with a contingency plan that’s included recruiting potential replacement officials, after negotiations stalled this past winter and as the May 31 deadline neared.
But the two sides are now in striking distance of a new CBA, with ESPN’s Kevin Seifert and Kalyn Kahler reporting Tuesday that the NFLRA has scheduled a ratification vote for Thursday night.
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If a new CBA is formally approved, the league won’t have to lean on replacement refs during the 2026 season. And, in that case, it wouldn’t need to enforce the conditional replay review rules it approved this spring, either. Those rules, contingent on replacement officials being used, are designed to allow NFL staffers in the league’s New York City headquarters to consult with a game’s on-field replacement ref on an assortment of penalties, called and uncalled, as well as other administrative procedures, per ESPN.
Replacement refs were most recently used in 2012 when the lockout of NFL officials followed the previous season’s lockout of NFL players.
In that instance, the replacement refs were used for three weeks of the regular season, a stretch that culminated with the infamous “Fail Mary,” the ruling on which incorrectly rewarded the Seattle Seahawks with a game-winning touchdown reception against the Green Bay Packers on “Monday Night Football.”
That lockout of officials lasted 110 days.
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Specific terms of the CBA the NFL and NFLRA will be voting on this week have yet to be reported.
In a March 30 report, Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein outlined the main points of contention in the sides’ negotiations. Back then, Epstein reported that the NFL eyed a performance-based officiating model that would place lower-performing officials on probationary periods.
While the NFLRA has wanted officiating playoff assignments to be determined by seniority, the NFL has made it clear it prefers merit as the deciding factor in that selection process, Epstein reported at the time.
During their stalemate, the NFLRA and NFL have also been at odds about compensation, per Epstein, who reported at the end of March that the NFL had offered an average raise of 6.45% per year over a deal that would last six years. Meanwhile, the NFLRA maintained that its officials should be paid like those from the NBA, MLB and NHL despite the disparity in total number of games they have to work compared to the other leagues mentioned. The NFLRA was looking for a raise of more than 10% per year on average, according to Epstein’s March 30 report.
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Since, however, negotiations have reportedly progressed to the point where a vote is now set for Thursday night, with less than a month remaining before the current CBA between the NFL and the NFLRA expires.
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