Less than a month before the most recent collective bargaining agreement between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) was set to expire, the two sides ratified a new CBA on Friday, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
The deal covers the next seven years, taking the agreement through the 2032 season.
The NFL Referees Association ratified a seven-year labor deal with the NFL through the 2032 season.
The agreement includes increased access to officials in the offseason, development of a “bench” of officials and a new formal training program. pic.twitter.com/BZoDfn7kxi
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) May 8, 2026
News broke Tuesday that the NFLRA had scheduled a ratification vote for Friday. Shortly after that vote, it was announced by multiple sources that the ratification passed. The NFL and NFLRA have finally reached common ground after years-long negotiations stalled this past winter and as the May 31 deadline neared.
With a new CBA in place, the NFL can scrap a contingency plan that called for replacement officials and the enforcement of conditional replay-review rules that would have given NFL headquarters more in-game officiating authority.
Rules, contingent on replacement officials being used, were approved by NFL owners this spring to give the staffers in the league’s New York City officiating command center the ability to consult with a game’s on-field replacement ref on an assortment of penalties, called and uncalled, as well as other administrative procedures, per ESPN.
The NFL began recruiting replacement officials from the college ranks in early March, according to ESPN. Replacement officials were most recently used in 2012 when the lockout of NFL officials followed the previous season’s lockout of NFL players.
In that instance, the replacement officials were used for three weeks of the regular season, a stretch that culminated with the infamous “Fail Mary,” the ruling that incorrectly rewarded the Seattle Seahawks with a game-winning touchdown reception against the Green Bay Packers on “Monday Night Football.”
That lockout of officials lasted 110 days.
In March, NFLRA executive director Scott Green said he was surprised the NFL “would even consider” replacement officials after what transpired in 2012, according to ESPN.
Green flagged some possible issues with that approach, as described in ESPN’s March 18 report. He purported that there’d be a greater chance for gambling to find its way into officiating crews. Green also noted, per ESPN, that replacement officials can compromise the safety of players, given they aren’t equipped with the necessary experience at that level of football.
In a March 30 report, Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein outlined the main points of contention in the negotiations between the NFL and the NFLRA. Back then, Epstein reported the NFL eyed a performance-based officiating model that would place lower-performing officials on probationary periods.
While the NFLRA has wanted playoff assignments to be determined by seniority, the NFL has made it clear it prefers merit as the deciding factor in that selection process, Epstein reported at the time.
During their stalemate, the NFLRA and NFL have also been at odds about compensation, per Epstein, who reported at the end of March the NFL had offered an average raise of 6.45% per year in a deal that would last six years. Meanwhile, the NFLRA maintained that its officials should be paid like those from the NBA, MLB and NHL despite the disparity in total number of games the NFL requires compared to those other leagues. The NFLRA was looking for a raise of more than 10% per year on average, according to Epstein’s March 30 report.
Eventually, though, negotiations progressed to the point where a vote was held Friday afternoon.
This story will be updated.
