Sources: NFL, far apart with NFLRA, to begin hiring replacement refs

PHOENIX–NFL owners are “concerned” by Negotiating status with the NFL Referees Association and has authorized staff members to hire and induct replacement officials in the coming weeks, league sources said at the start of league meetings Sunday.

nfl started Preparation of list of college level officers To start hiring early this month, and hopefully the owners will approve it this week Extensive set of replay enhancements Supporting replacement officials in pre-season and regular-season games. A league source said training for the new replacement officials would begin on May 1.

According to one source, once that happens, “the opportunity to reach an agreement with our current union becomes a bigger challenge, just from simple economics.”

League sources said it effectively took the sides about a month to bridge the wide gaps in their proposals, from economics to the seasonal structure of jobs.

NFLRA executive director Scott Green did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with the NFLRA expires on May 31. The league sent a memo to each club last week prohibiting public comment on the situation. But as owners, league officials and team employees gathered at the Arizona Biltmore resort this weekend, sources painted a dire picture of the likelihood of an agreement before replacement executives are hired.

A league source said the league office is expecting and preparing for a lockout.

“We are so close to the end and so far ahead in terms of economics that unless an act of God gets involved…,” the source said.

During the last lockout in 2012, a league source said the league’s mistake was waiting until July to prepare replacement officials.

“Expecting guys to move from college to the pros and make a change of pace in such a short period of time is going to be a challenge to succeed,” the league source said. “We’re not going to do that.

“There will be no panic, and we have started preparations for the end. We have to do this. Otherwise, it would just be gross negligence.”

According to sources, the NFL has offered the NFLRA a six-year deal, with an average annual raise of 6.45%. The average NFL official will make $385,000 in 2025. The league has also pressured the NFLRA to allow several fundamental changes to the officials’ job structure, which the NFLRA has largely opposed.

“Expecting people to come out of college and move to the pros and make a change of pace in such a short period of time is going to be a challenge to succeed. We’re not going to do that. There will be no panic, and we have started preparing for the end. We have to do this. Otherwise, it would just be gross negligence.”

League Source for ESPN

“Owners are concerned that these negotiations have been as challenging as ever,” a league source said. “They are concerned that the union has resisted performance and accountability measures.”

Those measures include:

• Increasing the probation period for new officers from three to five years.

• Shortening the “dead period” during the offseason to allow more training, including requiring low-performing officials to work spring football games to help improve their performance.

• Reducing the seniority-based approach to covering playoff games and replacing it with assignments largely based on performance

“We really want to follow the model that is the DNA of the NFL, where you pay for performance,” a league source said. “You have to perform every day. Players do it, coaches do it, lawyers do it, owners do it, and we keep testing ourselves and trying to improve.”