NFL begins beating the bushes for potential replacement officials

Get ready for Project Fail Mary 2 . Per multiple sources, the NFL has begun the process of identifying potential replacement game officials, in the event that ongoing negotiations with the NFL Referees Association fail to result in a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. The league's effort targets college officials, with the news making its way to PFT via a specific focus on officials working for "small college" conferences.

An email making the rounds (but not sent directly from someone tied to the league office) explains that the goal is to perform background checks and "onboarding" of potential replacements in April, to conduct an introductory, face-to-face gathering in May, to provide training via Zoom over the summer, to work training camps in August, and to transition to regular-season work in September. The NFL declined comment on the situation. It's not presently known whether the league is also targeting officials employed by major conferences.

The fact that those officials are often on track to becoming future NFL officials creates a "scab" dynamic that could create issues among current officials and future hires. During the 2012 lockout, most of the replacement officials came from lower college divisions and even high school . The last lockout officially began with the Hall of Fame game.

It was resolved in the aftermath of the disastrous Week 3 "Fail Mary" Monday night game between the Packers and Seahawks. Previously, reports have emerged that the NFL is exploring centralizing some of the officiating functions at the league office, if there's another lockout. The possibility of another lockout comes during an age of legalized gambling, which considerably raises the stakes regarding the potential impact of substandard officiating on the integrity of the game — and on the integrity of wagers on games.