NFL negotiation back on course after steering in disastrous direction
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If something doesn’t change soon, the 2026 NFL season is heading for disaster.
The reason that’s possible is because the NFL and its referees have been in a battle over a new Collective Bargaining Agreement that is set to expire on May 31.
If the two sides can’t reach an agreement, the league will have to use replacement refs, an ugly, disastrous road the NFL has been down before.
Luckily, there’s finally some good news to report on the situation.
NFL, referees talking again
The two sides had broken off talks in late March and it looked like replacement refs were inevitable.
However, according to ESPN’s Kevin Seifert, the two sides are back at the negotiating table and the most recent meeting was “productive,” with more talks expected.
“Several owners joined the NFL negotiating team yesterday in its negotiations with the NFL Referees Association,” Seifert said. “Per an NFL source, the meeting was productive and there is an expectation for continued discussions.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter also chimed in, saying the situation is no longer “dire.”
That said, we’ve seen how quickly things can go south in this situation, so don’t go getting excited just yet.
What’s the impasse?
Talks between the NFL and the NFLRA broke down late last month. The two sides failed to make it through even the first day of scheduled negotiations.
The NFL pointed to the NFLRA’s demands for significant annual raises as well as “millions of dollars in marketing fees.”
“We continue to focus on investing in accountability and performance in our officiating,” the NFL said after talks ended. “[NFLRA executive director] Scott [Green] and his team haven’t changed their approach in almost two years, continuing to demand raises at almost double the rates of the increases realized by the players over the course of this CBA and, in addition, millions of dollars in marketing fees that rank-and-file union members never see.”
According to an ESPN source, another major point of contention is the NFLRA’s refusal to address poor officiating performance. Fans have watched officials make countless mistakes for years, yet the union has done nothing about it.
The replacement referee problem
With things previously getting ugly between the NFL and NFLRA, the league reportedly plans on beginning to train replacement referees next month.
As bad as we’ve seen the regular officials do, especially in recent years, replacement referees are far worse.
We saw that first hand during the 2012 season, when the replacement officials were deployed for three weeks amid a lockout — and the results were disastrous, with the famed “Fail Mary” being among the lowlights.
The replacement officials’ poor performance was a major catalyst that helped end the 2012 lockout and get a deal done.
Fans can complain about NFL officiating, but it would be far worse with replacement officials.
