The NFL and NFL Referees Association are expected to finalize a new collective bargaining agreement this weekend, multiple sources told ESPN on Thursday.
The sides reached a tentative agreement last week.
The league’s unionized officiating staff will travel Friday to Chicago to discuss and ultimately vote on the seven-year deal Saturday morning. Negotiations hit a snag over the summer when the NFL shelved its full-time officials program, but the sides resumed talks as the season approached.
Specific terms of the deal were not available.
The current CBA was set to expire May 31, 2020. The NFL was determined to avoid a repeat of its 2012 negotiating fiasco, when owners locked out officials during CBA talks and hired replacements for the preseason and the first three weeks of the regular season. The sides reached a deal days after a missed call on a Hail Mary changed the outcome of a game in what was ultimately a 14-12 victory for the Seattle Seahawks over the Green Bay Packers.