NFL Notes: CBA, Franchise Tags, Officiating

CBA

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler says the players are in three camps regarding the proposed CBA, with some ready to approve it as is, others who just want minor tweaks and a third camp that doesn’t want 17 games, period. 
• The NFLPA made the decision to postpone the vote until after the two sides meet Tuesday in Indianapolis at the Scouting Combine. Getting the two-thirds majority to pass the proposal isn’t a slam dunk, though, per a source: “Anything is possible at this point.”
• Fowler says while the players hope to continue the negotiations, the owners have no intentions of renegotiating their current offer. 
• SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano reports that if talks are progressing well between the NFL and NFLPA, the start of free agency could be delayed to give the two sides more time to hammer out an agreement on a new CBA. 

Franchise Tags

• Tom Pelissero reports that the NFL and NFLPA have officially agreed to pushed back franchise and transition tag deadlines by two days from Tuesday, February 25 to Thursday, February 27.
• The tag period closing date was also pushed back two days to Thursday, March 12. 

Officiating

• According to Mark Maske of the Washington Post, the coaches plan to propose the addition of a “sky judge,” which is another referee watching from a monitor in the booth who can call down to the officials on the field and inform them of missed penalty calls. 
• However, Maske says the league office and the majority of current officials are skeptical of the need for a sky judge.