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Kalin Kahler
NFL teams were informed in a memo Wednesday that the collective bargaining agreement between the league and the NFL Referees Association expires at the end of May, making this current season the final agreement under the current one.
The memo sent by NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent and general counsel Larry Farzani said the league “has been engaged in bargaining with the NFLRA to extend the current agreement through the summer of 2024, and to date, those discussions have been unsuccessful.”
Vincent and Farazani outlined the league’s priorities for a new CBA in the memo, stating, “The NFL is focused on implementing changes to the agreement in ways that will improve the performance of our game officials, increase accountability, and ensure that the highest performing officials are officiating our highest profile games.”
Among the changes the league is bargaining for:
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Rewarding performance so that only high performing sports officials can participate in the year-end bonus period.
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More flexibility in postseason assignments. The current CBA values seniority as a factor in determining postseason assignments. The league believes that “the best performing officials should be on the field in the postseason.”
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A longer probationary period to evaluate new executives and “to gain flexibility in removing low performers.”
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Enhanced training and development for probationary and low performing officers.
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Shortening the time frame when the league cannot contact officials, which currently runs from the Super Bowl to May 15.
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Creating a practice squad. The league says it is considering increasing the number of game officials to “develop a deeper bench.”
When NFLRA executive director Scott Green was reached by phone Wednesday, he declined to comment on the league’s memo and bargaining process.
“We look forward to discussing it with him,” Green told ESPN. “Doing this through the media is not really helpful at this time.”
The last officiating lockout occurred in 2012 and lasted 110 days, ending after a controversial three-week call by replacement officials.
