Regular Refs to Work Thursday Game After Agreement The NFL's regular officiating crews are back. Their return couldn't have come soon enough for many players, coaches and fans. After two days of marathon negotiations - and mounting frustration throughout the league - the NFL and the officials' union announced at midnight Thursday that a tentative eight-year agreement had been reached to end a lockout that began in June. The deal came on the heels of Seattle's chaotic last-second win over Green Bay on Monday night in which the replacement officials struggled. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was at the bargaining table Tuesday and Wednesday, said the regular officials would work the Browns-Ravens game at Baltimore on Thursday night. "We are glad to be getting back on the field for this week's games," NFL Referees Association president Scott Green said. And plenty of players echoed that sentiment. The tentative deal must be ratified by 51 percent of the union's 121 members. For the Packers, Redskins, Lions and other teams who voiced their displeasure with calls that might have swayed games, the agreement doesn't change their records. But after having replacements for the first three weeks, triggering a wave of outrage that threatened to disrupt the rest of the season, Titans quarterback Matt Hasselbeck probably spoke for his peers by simply echoing Spiller: "Welcome back." FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2011, file photo, officials confer in the fourth quarter of an NFL football game between the Atlanta Falcons and Houston Texans in Houston. The NFL and referees' union reached a tentative agreement on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, to end a three-month lockout that triggered a wave of frustration and anger over replacement officials and threatened to disrupt the rest of the season. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel, File) Close The agreement hinged on working out pension and retirement benefits for the officials, who are part-time employees of the league. The tentative pact calls for their salaries to increase from an average of $149,000 a year in 2011 to $173,000 in 2013, rising to $205,000 by 2019. Under the proposed deal, the current defined benefit pension plan will remain in place for current officials through the 2016 season or until the official earns 20 years' service. The longest contract with on-field officials in NFL history was reached with the assistance of two federal mediators. Replacements have been used both to play and officiate NFL games before. In 1987, the players went on strike and three games were played with replacement players. In 2001, the first week of the regular season was officiated by replacements before a deal was worked out.