The NFL distributes crew assignments to referees, sources said

The NFL distributed crew assignments to referees this week in an indication of continued progress on a new collective bargaining agreement with the Referees Association, sources told ESPN.

The assignments do not include all replacement officials the league has vetted in preparation for a potential lockout. The league’s executive department plans to begin training replacement officials from Friday. The existing CBA between the two parties will expire on May 31.

Both the NFL and the NFLRA declined to comment.

The sides have been negotiating for nearly two years but reached an impasse this spring, prompting the league office to begin laying the groundwork for using replacement officials. At their annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, the owners passed a series of rule changes to give league officials in New York City broad authority to help officiate games via video feed if substitute officials are used at the games.

A meeting earlier this month that included multiple owners, incl Dallas Cowboys‘ Jerry Jones made what a league source called “progress”. Sources said this week that momentum continues to build toward a deal.

But even as the sides continue to talk, the NFL has steered its contingency plans on a parallel track.

Perry Fewell, the league’s senior vice president of officiating, told teams in a memo before the NFL draft that the league has begun conducting medical exams and vetting college officials willing to step in as NFL replacements if needed. Fewell also wrote that those replacements could begin recruiting staff for OTAs and minicamp as early as June 1.

When talks stalled this spring, the NFL offered the NFLRA a six-year contract that averaged 6.45% annual raises, sources said. The average NFL official earned $385,000 in 2025.

The league pushed the NFLRA to allow several fundamental changes to the job structure of officials, which the NFLRA had largely resisted at the start of negotiations. Those measures include extending the probationary period of new officials from three to five years, shortening “dead time” in the offseason to allow more training and reducing the seniority-based system for covering playoff games.

ESPN’s Kalin Kahler contributed to this story.