Overview
- Teams were told in a Wednesday memo from officiating chief Perry Fewell that onboarding has begun, with several candidates clearing background checks and physicals and training set to start around May 1.
- The current deal with the NFL Referees Association expires May 31, and clubs will get tentative schedules for replacements to work OTAs and minicamps starting June 1 if no agreement is reached.
- The league’s latest offer is a six-year pact averaging 6.45% annual raises, while the union’s reported ask for higher pay and fees was disputed by NFLRA executive director Scott Green.
- The NFL is pressing for longer probation for new hires, a shorter offseason pause to allow more training, and less seniority-based playoff assignments, proposals the union has resisted.
- Owners approved broader authority for New York’s command center to help officiate via video if replacements are used, a step taken as the 2012 replacement-crews episode and its high-profile errors remain a cautionary example.