The National Football League Referees Association [NFLRA] and the NFL owners reached an agreement late Wednesday night that had regular referees on the field for the Thursday night’s battle between the Ravens and Browns.
For the entire preseason and the first three weeks of the regular season, the NFL has been taking a lot of heat for the subpar performance of the replacement officials.
This reached a melting point on Monday night when the replacement officials finally decided the outcome between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks.
After an outpour of criticism that came shortly after the game and through the night from players, ex-players and media, the NFLRA and the NFL owners finally went back to the table to negotiate.
The owners and NFLRA worked all day Tuesday without much progress. However, on Wednesday both sides made concessions on key points that allowed negotiations to take off and get to the point of reaching a deal.
According to ESPN.com, the referees will get their increase in salary gradually over the next eight years. In 2013, the referees will make $173 million and will work up to $205 million by 2019.
The NFL also gets their wish of having the pension plan gradually phased out. The pension plan will remain in place through the 2016 season or until an official reaches 20 years of experience. After that their benefits will be frozen.
Beginning in 2017, the new hires and all other officials will receive a new pension, which averages $18,000 to start but increases to $23,000 per official by 2019.
For both sides these were the two sticking points that had held up negotiations since the beginning of the regular season. However, as soon as the disaster that the NFL had hoped to avoid struck, there was no option but for both sides to return to the table and try to resolve their differences.
The deal reached between the NFLRA and the NFL was an eight-year deal – the longest deal they have ever reached. So for those expecting these replacement officials back in a few years when there’s the possibility of another lockout can put that thought off for many years to come.
