Fitzgerald Cecilio

While a labor deal between the NFL and regular referees is being ironed out, replacement officials will blow the whistle during the Hall of Fame game between the Arizona Cardinals and New Orleans Saints Sunday, a source confirmed.

The source, however, cannot give out the names of the replacement officials as the NFL prefers not to release their names in advance because the league doesn't want the media digging into the replacement officials' credentials.

NFL official Greg Aiello said, per normal league policy, the names will be available at the game.

Members of the NFL Referees Association were locked out June 3 after talks between the union and the league broke down. A source said the sides made little, if any, progress during their last round of negotiations last week.

Earlier this week, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell declared that he was comfortable with the idea of using replacement officials in preseason games.

"That's why we've been training them for the last two months and why they're on the field now, is to make sure they're prepared, they understand the rules," Goodell told nfl.com.

"We have rigorously evaluated our 136 officials and we feel very good about them going out and doing an incredible job," Ray Anderson, NFL VP of Football Operations, explained.

"We have spent a lot of time focusing and training them over the course of the last two months specifically in regard for the player-safety rules and being vigorous about those enforcements and we feel very confident that they will do a good job," he added.

Goodell said the league has offered officials a significant pay raise as part of negotiations.

"Of course, they're interested in compensation and benefits, we understand that," Goodell said. "We've made a proposal we think is fair, with an increase. It's five to 11 percent per official. We think we've been responsive on that and hopefully we can get something done."

Goodell added the main emphasis in negotiations from the NFL's perspective was to find ways to improve officiating.

Replacement Referees to Blow Whistle 2012 NFL Hall of Fame Game