NFL begins distributing officiating crew assignments, showing progress on new CBA

Signs continue to point toward the nearing completion of a new collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association.

The NFL this week distributed crew assignments to referees, and none included replacement game officials, a source briefed on the matter said, confirming an ESPN report.

Negotiators and leaders from the two sides have met regularly and continue to make progress toward a deal after nearly two years of fruitless talks and a bleak picture painted by both sides earlier this offseason.

The current deal — a six-year pact agreed to in 2019 — expires on May 31. After talks stalled earlier this spring, the NFL began making contingency plans to ensure that a potential lack of an agreement would not impact the start of the 2026 season.

League officials began onboarding replacement officials — referees that had worked in the college ranks — for medical examinations and training sessions. The NFL also sent a memo to teams instructing them to expect replacement officials at minicamps and offseason practice sessions beginning June 1, if the league and NFLRA failed to reach a deal by May 31.

NFL brass believes it is imperative to give the replacement officials as long a training window as possible rather than waiting until just before the start of the preseason to begin hiring and training them.

Despite taking steps to prepare the replacement referees, talks resumed between the NFL and NFLRA. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and son Stephen Jones, Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and Tampa Bay Buccaneers owner Joel Glazer took part in a meeting in early April. Following that meeting, a memo was issued to teams to update them on positive strides toward a deal.

The NFL and NFLRA have been at odds over various issues, including annual compensation increases, evaluation tools the NFL sought to implement, probationary periods and the timeline for offseason training windows.

At the league meetings in March, owners approved a measure that would allow replacement game officiating crews to receive assistance from the game-day command center and correct on-field calls.

However, that approval might be irrelevant if the NFL and the referees’ union reach a deal that ensures veteran officiating crews are on the field by the start of the season.