Source- NFL reaches deal with locked out referees

NEW YORK -- The NFL and its officials agreed to a new contract Monday, all but ending the lockout and the need for replacements, a league source told The Associated Press.

The deal, which must be ratified by the 119 officials, is for the same amount of money the league had offered on Sept. 4, although some details are different.

It calls for a 50 percent raise this season and 100 percent by the fourth year of a six-year contract, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The officials were to vote on the deal by e-mail, a process expected to be finished by Wednesday morning. The deadline is noon EDT, Wednesday.

Tom Condon, chief negotiator for the union, had no immediate comment.

The deal was worked out with Bill Carollo, the executive director of the NFL Referees Association, and Jeff Bergman, two of the four members of the negotiating committee, the source said.

One official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Dan Rooney, owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Jeff Pash, the league's lead negotiator, had been talking with Carollo and Bergman.

In past NFL labor disputes, Rooney has been called in to close deals when an agreement was imminent.

NFL spokesman Joe Browne said the league had no comment.

"We will not say anything until we have agreed to a deal," he said.

Sources on both sides said the agreement was speeded up in the wake of the terrorist attacks, which cast a whole new perspective on sports events in general. They said both sides agreed the horror and destruction trivialized the dispute.

The replacement officials, who are guaranteed four weeks' salary at $2,000 a week, worked the final week of the preseason and the first games of the regular season.