Report: NFL referees union schedules vote on new CBA

The NFL Referees Association has scheduled a vote for Thursday night on ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement with the NFL.

BY FIELD LEVEL MEDIA

May 6, 2026, 6:06 AM

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The NFL Referees Association has scheduled a vote for Thursday night on ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement with the NFL, ESPN reported on Tuesday.

Negotiations between the league and union have progressed, according to the report, with the current CBA slated to expire on May 31. Specifics on the agreement were not yet known, with the league declining comment to ESPN and the NFLRA not immediately responding to a request.

Two years of negotiations had led only to a stalemate last winter and the NFL preparing for the prospect of replacement referees for the 2026 season. The league reportedly began compiling a list of replacements — mostly from the low-college ranks — and plans to start training them by May.

NFL and NFL Referees Association progressed far enough on new deal and are set for ratification vote on Thursday night.

If approved, it would prevent the use of replacement officials this season.

— Underdog NFL (@UnderdogNFL) May 5, 2026

Both the Players Association and the NFLRA voiced concerns last month about player safety if replacement referees were used.

As recently as a month ago, league sources told ESPN that owners were “alarmed” by the current state of the negotiations with the NFLRA. One source said it would take “an act of God” to bridge the economic gaps between the two sides before the CBA expires.

The league had offered a six-year deal with an average annual raise of 6.45%, per ESPN. The average official earned $385,000 in 2025.

In late March, team owners approved a one-year change to the rulebook regarding officiating. If replacement referees are used in a game during the upcoming season, the league’s command center in New York can adjust any calls made or not made by officials on the field in real time.

Changes can be made to both calls that were missed on the field and calls that were made but deemed incorrect.

If the CBA is fully ratified by May 31, the new rules would not apply.

In a 2012 game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks with replacement officials, the Seahawks won on a last-second pass to the end zone where players from both teams were deemed to have simultaneous possession. But the NFL later admitted that a Seahawks offensive pass interference penalty was missed that would have given the Packers the victory.

After using replacement officials for the first two weeks of the 2012 season, the league ended the lockout of officials two days after the Packers-Seahawks game.

–Field Level Media