INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – The NFL is considering making referees full-time employees and centralizing replay review at its New York headquarters as it aims for more consistent, shorter games.
Those were the major topics of discussion when the league’s competition committee met Tuesday in advance of the league’s annual scouting combine.
Falcons president Rich McKay, chairman of the competition committee, noted that the collective bargaining agreement allows the league to hire as many as 17 full-time officials . “That is being discussed,” he told The Associated Press after the meeting.
The positives, McKay said, are better, centralized training and, ultimately, greater consistency between crews.
“When you have full-time people you have the ability to train more, to have them work together and therefore speak the same language, watch the same tape and try to create consistency crew to crew,” McKay said.