NEW YORK – The NFL will open the regular season next week with replacement officials and said it was prepared to use them “as much ... as necessary” afterward.

Replacements will be on the field beginning Wednesday night when the Dallas Cowboys visit the New York Giants in the season opener, league executive Ray Anderson told the 32 teams in a memo. Negotiations are at a standstill between the NFL and the officials’ union.

The NFL Referees Association was locked out in early June, and talks on a new collective bargaining agreement have gone nowhere. Replacements have been used throughout the preseason, with mixed results.