There were a pair of proposals to add an eighth official with access to video and the ability to communicate with on-field officials this offseason, but neither of them is going to be adopted in a vote of NFL team owners.
Neither of the proposals will even be voted on during Thursday’s remote league meeting. Tom Pelissero of NFL Media reports that the the two proposals -- one called for a booth umpire while the other wanted to establish a technological advisor with both often referred to as creating a “sky judge” position -- have been withdrawn ahead of Thursday’s vote.
It’s not a particularly surprising development. NFL vice president of football operations Troy Vincent said last week that there is not a pipeline of officials able to fill the roles at this point.
There had been some talk about adopting one of the proposals for the preseason and Pelissero adds that the league may still test some “expanded booth-to-official communication system” despite there being no chance of it being adopted for the regular season.