As of Friday, the league will begin training potential replacement officials, in the event of a lockout of the regular officials when the current labor deal expires on May 31. Meanwhile, the NFL has distributed official 2026 crew configurations for the regular officials.

Via Kevin Seifert of ESPN, the assignments were distributed this week.

Seifert adds that there are "indications of continued progress" between the NFL and the NFL Referees Association, as they negotiate a potential new Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The best news is the ongoing cessation of efforts by both sides (mainly, the NFL) to spread P.R. propaganda about the situation. The more they play nice, the more likely they can find a way to work together, for the good of everyone.

Many negotiations are difficult for the parties involved. Some negotiations are bigger than the parties involved. This is one of them. And if there's a repeat of the 2012 Fail Mary debacle, everyone involved in the outcome will have failed not only themselves but also the game of which they are all merely stewards.