Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was reportedly among the NFL owners to join the league’s labor negotiations with the NFL Referees Association (NFLRA) on Thursday, according to NFL Network.
With the NFL and the referee’s union engaged in a contentious labor battle, a handful of NFL owners reportedly joined those negotiations Thursday, per ESPN. Talks were “productive,” and the expectation is that both sides will continue talking ahead of the collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) expiring May 31.
That’s a positive development, especially after negotiations were stalled in late March over an inability between both sides to get on the same page. The league and its officials were not aligned on three key points, per Yahoo Sports’ Jori Epstein. Those include implementing accountability measures for poorly performing officials, referee playoff assignments and compensation.
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Throughout the negotiations, the league has insisted it will act in good faith with the referee’s union. But the NFL has also acknowledged the potential that replacement refs are used in 2026. The league passed a new rule in March allowing replay-assist to weigh in on certain calls in 2026 if replacement refs are used. Additionally, the league has reportedly sent memos to teams announcing replacement refs would start training June 1 if a deal isn’t reached with the referee’s union by the May 31 deadline.
It’s unclear what the NFL owners did to push talks forward Thursday. The previous time both sides met, negotiations lasted just three hours after the NFLRA claimed the league proposed a take-it-or-leave-it offer and did not send anyone to the meeting authorized to negotiate beyond that proposal. Those talks were scheduled to last two days.
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Prior to meeting with the referee’s union, Jones backed the NFL’s desire for additional training and performance-based pay, at least one of which proved to be a major barrier at the previous talks between both sides.
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