The NFL is advocating a more performance-driven model for its game officials, one linking bonuses and postseason assignments to regular-season grades as opposed to seniority.
The plan was outlined in a memo distributed to the league’s 32 teams Wednesday and obtained by the Los Angeles Times. It comes with the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement with game officials expiring at the end of May and negotiations slowed to a crawl.
The topic was part of a two-hour virtual owners meeting on Wednesday.
In the memo, sent by NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent and Management Council General Counsel Lawrence Ferazani Jr., the league said it is looking to implement changes that will “improve the performance of game officials, increase accountability, and ensure that the highest-performing officials are officiating our highest profile games.”
The NFL is pushing for mandatory training and development programs for low-performing and probationary officials, and contends the union is “resisting our efforts to give these officials access to more practice repetitions.”
The league is also seeking to extend the probationary period for assessing new game officials to have more flexibility to identify and remove those who are underperforming. According to the document, the union’s latest proposal seeks to eliminate the probationary period entirely.
“Our union’s negotiating committee is working diligently on behalf of members, and we will continue to respect that process,” said Scott Green, Executive Director of the NFL Referees’ Assn., in a statement. “We look forward to our continued conversations with the league as we make progress towards a new CBA.”
As it stands, the NFL has no communication with game officials following the Super Bowl through May 15. The league wants to shorten that so-called “dead period” and increase access to officials for rules discussions, video review and the like.
The league is also proposing a practice squad for game officials to deepen the bench of talent.
The next formal bargaining session between the NFL and officials union is scheduled for Dec. 30 in Atlanta.