NFL reaches agreement with refs union on backup crews

The NFL and NFLRA have reached an agreement on the use of backup officials. (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)

The NFL and NFL Referees Association have reached an agreement on the issue of backup crews, reports NFL.com.

The league compromised in putting 21 full-time officials in developmental program. The 21 officials (three crews of seven officials each) will not be part of a regular group of NFL officials. The regular officials are still locked out as retirement pension remains an issue.

The NFL and NFLRA negotiated past midnight on Tuesday, but are still far apart on various issues.

"When you take a group of officials who have a collective experience of 1,500 years off the field and you replace them with a group of replacements who don't have that experience, our players know that the workplace today is less safe than it was with the real officials," NFL Players Association executive director DeMaurice Smith said on "CBS This Morning".