An NFL executive sent a pointed message about the league's officiating amid a labor dispute with the NFL Referees Association.
The league is reportedly preparing for an NFLRA work stoppage that will require them to hire replacement referees. NFL executive vice president Jeff Miller discussed the standoff on Tuesday, via Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.
Miller suggested that a desire for better officiating has affected the league's discussions with the NFLRA.
"This is an opportunity for us to improve the state of our officiating," Miller said at the NFL's annual meeting. "There needs to be accountability measures. There needs to be performance measures, and that’s what our negotiating posture has been."
NFL owners "insistent upon" better referee performance
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ESPN's Kevin Seifert and Kalyn Kahler reported on Sunday that NFL owners are "alarmed" by the state of negotiations with the NFLRA and authorized the hiring of replacement referees. A source said a lockout is inevitable "unless an act of God gets involved" before the collective bargaining agreement ends on May 31.
Owners approved a rule proposal on Tuesday that will allow the league's officiating office to "correct clear and obvious mistakes made by on-field officials that impact the game, in the event that there is a work stoppage involving the game officials represented by the NFL Referees Association."
According to ESPN, the NFLRA has resisted performance-monitoring measures such as increasing the probationary period for new officials from three to five years. The league also wants to assign playoff games based more on merit than seniority and decrease the offseason "dead period."
"The dead period that keeps us from talking to officials from the end of the season until May 15, the probationary period that doesn’t permit us enough time to work with officials to help them improve performance — or remove them if necessary — or the ability to get the best-performing officials on the field as the playoffs continue," Miller said.
Miller claimed owners are adamant about ensuring better officiating in negotiations with the NFLRA.
"The owners were consistent in saying, we’re more than happy to pay for performance. ... This was consistent throughout the course of the discussions over the last couple of days," Miller said. "But what they are insistent upon — insistent upon — is that the performance of the officials and the accountability for their performance has to improve. And that’s where we are in these negotiations, and that’s exactly where we’re going to stay."
