PHOENIX – It’s still too early to bank on replacement refs returning to NFL fields this season as negotiations with the referees union remain stuck in the mud.
Yet with neither side budging in talks over a six-year extension, there’s no denying that the NFL is much further along in the process of executing contingency plans than it was in 2012, when games were marred by botched officiating from replacements.
NFL owners, gathering for league meetings this week, will consider a rule proposal that allows for expanded input from the league’s replay command center in New York to help replacement officials correct missed calls.
Just as significantly, the NFL insists that it is further along than it was in 2012 in recruiting and perhaps, ultimately, hiring replacements from the college ranks. League officials insist that’s a key lesson learned from 2012.
"We’re under no illusion, the challenge that we have,” a person with knowledge of the NFL’s negotiations with the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA), said under the condition of anonymity on Sunday. The person did not want to be identified due to the sensitive nature of the labor talks. “That’s why we’re starting so early.”
