Getty Images

NBC picked the right year to hire an officiating consultant.

Jim Daopoulos, a long-time official and supervisor of officials, joined NBC this season. And he tells PFT that the NFL and NFL Referees Association have signed a new deal.

A crew is being assembled to work Thursday night’s game between the Browns and Ravens. Then, on Friday, the officials will travel to Dallas to retrieve their equipment and receive their game assignments for Sunday and Monday, with the same crews working together as last year.

Details are still not clear, but Daopoulos says that the much-debated pension issue was resolved with the current defined-benefit plan remaining in place for five years before switching to a 401(k)-style defined contribution plan.

Also, it’s believed that the deal will cover five more years beyond this one, which means that we’ll potentially be doing this again in 2018.

UPDATE 10:56 p.m. ET: Daopoulos has provided some more facts. The officials will vote on the deal in Dallas on Friday, at which time it will become final. They’ll then participate in a clinic, and head on Saturday to the game sites. Also, the officials will receive a pay raise of four percent, with 12 guaranteed game checks this year and 19 in subsequent years (including preseason). As to the checks they’ve missed this year, the officials will divvy up $2.5 million.