The NFL and the NFL Referees Association have a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement that will change how game officials are trained, evaluated and assigned, ESPN reported.
The deal, ratified by the officials' union on May 8, creates the league's first practice squad for game officials. ESPN reported that the group can include up to 12 officials who will be assigned to crews, travel to stadiums and be available if a starting official is injured or performing poorly.
NFL Adds Practice Squad For Officials
The practice-squad plan is the most visible change in the CBA. ESPN reported that the NFL also plans to elevate some practice squad officials into regular-season games for development, even when there is no injury or performance emergency.
Under the previous agreement, the league hired 119 officials across 17 crews and normally carried two veteran swing officials. The new CBA allows 10 additional swing officials, bringing the potential bench group to 12.
Four of the new swing spots are expected to be college officials who would work the NFL preseason, return to their college schedules and then become available to NFL crews after the college season. ESPN reported that the swing officials will be paid for eight games, with additional pay if they work more.
Training Calendar Expands Under CBA
The CBA also codifies 14 training dates into a longer offseason for officials. ESPN reported that crews have been working OTAs and minicamps this spring for the first time, adding more live practice work before the regular season.
The agreement also accepts parts of the league's push to link officiating compensation more closely to performance instead of seniority. ESPN framed that shift, along with the practice squad, as the clearest sign that the NFL wanted more competition inside its officiating program.
There are limits to how quickly the system can change. ESPN reported that, because of the timing of the agreement, a league source said the NFL is unlikely to hire all 12 practice squad officials this year.
The practical question for the 2026 NFL season is how often those officials actually appear in games. The agreement gives the league a mechanism to develop and replace officials; the season will show whether that mechanism becomes routine or stays mostly in reserve.