The NFL Is Implementing a New Strategy to Improve Officiating—but There Are Concerns

The NFL is looking to improve development among their officials. Will their plan work out?

The NFL is adding a practice squad for referees. | Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

After multiple years of negotiations, the NFL and the NFL Referees Association came to an agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement earlier this offseason, ensuring there will be no referee lockout or the usage of replacement officials in 2026.

With a new CBA comes change to the system. One of those changes is the installment of a practice squad for officials for the first time in league history. While every NFL team has a practice squad of players providing depth and competition to members of the active roster, the NFL is now implementing the same type of squad for the league’s referees as they look to improve officiating.

Per ESPN’s Kevin Seifert and Kalyn Kahler, the NFL is planning to use up to 12 officials on its first practice squad. They will be assigned to specific crews and will be able to step in if another official isn’t performing well or in the case of injury. As Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reported last month, six will essentially be backup refs that are guaranteed to appear in regular season games while four will be college officials from the Mackie Development Program of collegiate referees with an interest in moving to the NFL. Those four will work NFL training camps and preseason games and then return after the college season is over.

Related: Explaining the NFL’s Five New Rule Changes Ahead of the 2026 Season

As the league and referees look to improve the development among its officials, refs additionally have been working at OTAs and mandatory minicamps this spring, per ESPN. In the future, officials that have not been performing well could work in the United Football League.

While these changes and the overall focus on development to improve the game sound rosy on paper, there are still plenty of concerns of how they will actually work out, particularly when it comes to inserting a referee from the practice squad into a crew for a game in the middle of the season.

Dean Blandino, a former NFL officiating chief and Fox Sports’ rules analyst, told ESPN, “When push comes to shove, you're telling me that this crew's worked together for six weeks, now you're going to bring in one or two officials who haven't worked for a month on the field? That's a challenge.”

Not only could this new system disrupt a current crew’s flow, but ESPN notes that there are concerns about how the four college officials will be able to see the field during the regular season and if it’s worth having them taking snaps from full-time NFL officials during preseason game. The college football season is now so long that even if a college referee isn’t working the CFP, there are only a few weeks they’d even be available to jump to the NFL.

Ultimately, the NFL—and anyone watching games—know improvements in how the game is officiated need to be made. The focus on development is a must, but there are still plenty of questions about if the implementation of this practice squad will be a positive solution to the many problems plaguing officiating.

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