The NFL Referees Association is set to vote on a proposed Collective Bargaining Agreement on Thursday and a report ahead of that vote includes some details of what’s in the proposal.
Judy Battista of NFL Media reports that the proposal includes a new training program for officials. That program would include work at minicamps, training camps and joint practices ahead of each season the proposal also reportedly includes increased league access to officials during the offseason.
In addition, the proposal also calls for the development of a “bench” of officials beyond the ones assigned to regular crews.
Those items are part of what Battista characterizes as “a commitment by the game officials and the league to improve performance and increase accountability” in the future. If the NFLRA agrees to ratify the agreement, some of those initiatives can get underway and the prospect of replacement officials this fall can be discarded.