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It does not sound like any progress is being made between the NFL and the locked-out officials on a new collective bargaining agreement.
NFL executives told ESPN on Monday that they foresee starting the 2012 season with replacement officials. In addition to economic issues, there are two other problems that have impeded progress in talks, per the report.
The league apparently wants officials that have worked part time for the NFL to now work full time, but more than 90 percent of the officials already have full-time jobs that they do no want to leave. Another key point of contention, according to the report, is that the league wants to add three more crews of officials to give officials more time off and the league more crews to choose from, but officials are against that idea.
A source familiar with the negotiations told ESPN that the two sides probably would not reach an agreement until Week Three of the regular season.