NFL, Referees Union Near Deal to Avoid Replacement Officials in 2026

The NFL hopes to reach a deal with the referees union as early as Thursday evening and avoid using Division II, Division III and even some junior college officials for its games or activating a remote officiating backup at the start of the 2026 regular season.

League and NFL Referees Association negotiators have made enough progress in recent weeks that the union expects to vote soon on ratifying a new contract, sources and reports say.

Ratification would prevent a work stoppage that appeared likely as late as March, when both sides traded barbs and left fans facing the prospect of even worse officiating from inexperienced replacements.

Neither the NFL nor the NFL Referees Association commented on the recent talks. That silence signals progress and a likely agreement, since both sides aired open criticism just weeks ago.

Money lay at the core of the dispute. Officials sought higher pay. The NFL offered more but demanded changes to raise officiating standards.

"The effort has been pretty straightforward," NFL Executive Vice President Jeff Miller said in March. "I think we've been crystal clear, this is an opportunity for us to improve the state of our officiating. There needs to be accountability measures. There need to be performance measures. And that's what our negotiating posture has been."

"The owners were consistent in saying, ‘We’re more than happy to pay for performance.' This was consistent throughout the course of discussions the last couple of days. What they're insistent upon – insistent upon – is that the performance of the officials and accountability for the performance has to improve."

"And that's where we are in this negotiation and that's exactly where we're going to stay."

One month later, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell took a milder tone at the NFL Draft. "It’s important for us to reach an agreement," he said. "The conversations have been productive recently, and we’re pleased with that, and we hope that continues."

Talks apparently kept moving forward.

Details of the new contract remain unclear, but neither side won everything it sought.

Regular officials wanted a 10 percent raise, a protected off-season period with no league contact from season's end until May 16, salaries untied to performance and playoff crews based on seniority.

The NFL pushed for crews selected by season performance, more off-season training and merit-based raises over tenure-based ones.

The league ratified rule No. 5 for 2026 to counter poor calls by replacements. It lets the NFL officiating department in New York fix "clear and obvious mistakes" by on-field officials that affect games during a work stoppage with NFL Referees Association members.

That rule becomes irrelevant if officials ratify the new contract.