The long, somewhat-overblown national nightmare that’s been the referee lockout appears headed to a conclusion. A deal to get the regular referees back is on the horizon, as CBSSports.com’s Mike Freeman confirms a tentative deal between the NFL and locked-out officials.

There’s no signed agreement but a variety of sources tell Freman a deal is so close that locked out officials and the NFL could have something permanent in place by the end of the week. Significant progress was made during the past 24 hours.

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