The NFL Referee Standoff Nobody's Covering

Tom Pelissero walks through the story of the NFL annual meeting that nobody is talking about enough: the standoff between the league and its officials.

The NFL Referees Association's executive director Scott Green has been publicly firing shots in a way he historically avoided. The deal expires at the end of May. It is not yet a five-alarm fire, Pelissero says, but things are on flame.

The dispute is multi-layered. On money, the NFL is offering the largest year-over-year salary increases it has ever put on the table, in the 5 to 6 percent range. The NFLRA wants 10 percent. The union is also asking for $2.5 million for marketing rights the league says are essentially worthless. Nobody is putting a referee on a Wheaties box.

The second battleground is evaluation and accountability. The NFL wants to extend probation for incoming officials, send underperformers to work UFL games in the spring as remedial reps, and reward playoff assignments based on performance rather than seniority. Right now, a first-year official cannot work a Super Bowl. The league's counter is blunt: if a rookie quarterback can play in the Super Bowl, why can't a rookie official?

The union is protecting wages, working conditions, benefits, and job security. Pelissero points out that the 90-plus percent of officials who are above the line probably do not love protecting the 10 percent who are dragging everyone's reputation down, but without movement on the financial piece, the union won't budge on anything else.

The NFL is already moving. The league will start hiring contingent replacement officials as soon as next month, Division 1, 2, and 3 college officials who will get June and July of training plus live training camp reps. This is what the league did not do in 2012 when the replacement era produced the Fail Mary.

Two rule changes passed at the meeting add leverage. One lets the league office retroactively flag non-football acts like helmet swings or player-fan incidents even when no flag was thrown. The other, on a one-year basis, gives the league office the power to overrule anything clear and obvious on the field.

That second one is the Pandora's box. If the league can fix mistakes made by replacement officials, coaches at the meeting already asked the obvious question. Why wouldn't it do the same with regular officials once they return?

Big Brother at 345 Park Avenue putting down flags in real time would fundamentally change how NFL officiating works, and Pelissero makes clear the door is now cracked open.