NFL, NFL Referees Association will resume negotiations this week
Owners reportedly will be involved in the next round of talks.
The NFL is bringing in the "O" team. In an effort to get a deal done with the NFL Referees Association, the talks will now include owners. Two weeks ago, a bargaining session fell apart because, as the NFLRA put it, the NFL's negotiating delegation had no authority to negotiate .
(The NFL has never rebutted that contention. ) This week, negotiations will resume. Via Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (which is now owned by ESPN, which now is partially owned by the NFL), the NFL will send " several owners who sit on committees that oversee labor relations and the game itself " — specifically, the Management Council Executive Committee and the Competition Committee.
That's a positive sign. Empty suits can never get anything done. They're messengers, and nothing more.
Also from Rapoport, "The NFL priority continues to be investing (with record-setting raises offered) and in accountability and performance in officiating. " The reference to "record-setting raises" is yet another management-friendly slant that has been seeping through far too many NFLN/ESPN reports on the situation (none of which carry disclaimers about the league's stake in the outlets). So what if the raises are "record-setting"?