NFL teams were informed in a memo Wednesday that the collective bargaining agreement between the league and NFL Referees Association expires at the end of May, making this current season the final one of the existing agreement.
The memo, sent by NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent and general counsel Larry Ferazani, said the league has been “engaged in bargaining with the NFLRA to extend the current agreement since the summer of 2024, and to date, those discussions have been unsuccessful.”
Vincent and Ferazani laid out the league’s priorities for a new CBA in the memo, noting, “The NFL has remained focused on implementing changes to the agreement in ways that will improve the performance of our game officials, increase accountability, and ensure that the highest-performing officials are officiating our highest profile games.”
Among the changes the league is bargaining for:
When reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Scott Green, the executive director of the NFLRA, declined to comment on the league’s memo and the bargaining process.
“We look forward to discussing that with them,” Green told ESPN. “It’s not really helpful to do it by way of the media at this point.”
The last officiating lockout was in 2012 and lasted 110 days, ending after three weeks of controversial calls by replacement officials.