NFL Insider Tom Pelissero Talks Steelers, Vikings, Refs Contract, More w/Rich

Tom Pelissero's only week off TV per year is hoodie week, and even then he is the one breaking news. The NFL Network insider joined Rich on Friday and dropped, on air, that the league and its officials are about to have labor peace.

'The vote has now closed for the NFL referees association,' Pelissero said. 'The people I have spoken to anticipate ratification of a new labor deal which will ensure peace for years to come. We'll keep the replacement officials off the field.' Nothing was final pending an auditor's review of the votes, but Pelissero said the league was 'fully anticipating' good news soon.

Assuming ratification, the changes are real. The new deal is expected to expand the league's investment in officiating, including ending the dark period after the Super Bowl when the NFL was barred from training, film sessions, or any contact with its officials. The league pushed for, and Pelissero believes will get, the ability to establish a bench of officials, a kind of practice squad, so underperformers can be cycled out for someone ready to be called up. Off-season training expands. So does training camp access. 'More time on task, more reps,' Pelissero said.

He also pumped the brakes on the broader replay overhaul some have campaigned for. The league office will get expanded power to insert itself on ejectable offenses, including throwing a flag and an ejection on something missed entirely on the field, the kind of hit that DK Metcalf took on the sideline. But the sweeping sky-judge model that fixes everything, Pelissero said, is not happening, and probably should not. 'There is no earthly way to make that efficient in the near term,' he said. 'Technology continues to improve. The league will continue to do things incrementally.'

Pelissero turned to the Vikings, who signed Jauan Jennings on a one-year deal worth up to $13 million with incentives. The signing, he said, does not signal anything about Jordan Addison or Justin Jefferson. The vision is Jennings filling the Jalen Nailor role inside a passing game with Addison, Jefferson, and tight end T.J. Hockenson. The other half of the offense is the more interesting half. Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy are entering 'a true competition,' with both believing they will win the job. 'Nobody moves like Kyler, but JJ's got good mobility,' Pelissero said. 'I don't know, frankly, how friendly that quarterback room is going to be. It is going to be a very competitive quarterback room.'

On Aaron Rodgers, Pelissero would not commit to an arrival time, but did commit to an outcome. Rodgers is in Pittsburgh. There is no scheduled meeting with the team as of Friday morning. Communication has been positive. They have talked numbers. There is no agreement yet. 'I do not believe based on what I know that the contract is going to hold this up,' Pelissero said. 'Aaron Rodgers has made about $400 million in his career. If he's making 15 or 20, I don't think that that's going to have a great impact on his life.' His prediction, with the appropriate Rodgers-shaped caveat, is that Rodgers will be the Steelers quarterback when OTAs open May 18. 'He can walk in the door in three minutes for all we know, Rich.'