The NFL has started onboarding potential replacement officials as the expiration of its collective bargaining agreement with the NFL Referees Association approaches, clubs were informed Wednesday in a memo from Perry Fewell, the league's senior vice president of officiating.
"Several" replacements have completed background checks with NFL security, according to the memo, and they will soon be given physical examinations. Online and in-person training sessions with league officiating supervisors are scheduled to begin on or near May 1.
The CBA between the sides expires May 31. Fewell wrote that teams will receive a tentative schedule in the coming weeks with details about replacement officials' availability to work at OTAs and minicamps beginning June 1, if there is no agreement before then.
"Throughout the process we will continue to solicit your feedback on the performance of the potential replacement officials as we finalize the game official roster for training camp and preseason games," Fewell wrote.