CFL has a lot to think about with COVID-19

This is also where the CFL decision to set a football administration salary cap, like a player cap, may bite the CFL in the ass. When the cap came in, teams like the Riders had to shed a number of scouts all over Canada and the United States because there was no room for them salary wise or number wise under the cap.

While the Riders had the resources to pay for those scouts and they did a pretty good job of finding players, other teams were unable or unwilling to do the same thing and so in theory this leveled the playing field. So know teams have to rely on contacts in Canada and the States to provide them with information on potential free agents and draft picks.

So the secret to success is who has the better unofficial network in the States and Canada who can answer the questions of how good these athletes are and do they have it mentally and physical to make it to the pros. The Riders head man in the States is Paul Jones, the former player personnel guru of the Edmonton Eskimos who came to Riderville a couple of years ago. This is where he earns his money.

So while not having player combines or free agent camps will throw a wrench into the CFL preseason planning, a bigger wrench came from the direction of the NFL and NFLPA who ratified a new Collective Bargaining Agreement this week by a narrow margin.

The new NFL CBA approved by 60 votes, sees the minimum NFL salaries go up from $510,000 to $610,000. In the last year of the CBA, the minimum salary goes up to $1.065 Million for a first year player. By comparison, the CFL minimum salary goes up from $55,000 t0 $65,000.

NFL practice squads will go up from 10 players to 12 this year and up to 14 for next year. Game Day rosters will go up to 48 players and teams can borrow liberally from their practice squad to make up the 53-man roster. The practice squads will be able to take on veterans, which was not possible under the older CBA which stated players can not be on a practice roster for more than three years.

So expect to see players take more shots at the NFL in hopes of at least making it onto the practice roster. The prospect of making more money on an NFL practice roster or even as a starter in the NFL is just too enticing and makes the CFL’s job of recruiting players even more difficult.

Perhaps this is why the CFL has gone into the CFL 2.0 project. You can’t blame Canadian players from wanting to try the more lucrative NFL market and if they go down to the States, there is no guarantee they will come back. Rider fans will remember the names of Anthony Auclair and Daniel Oneyamata, two really good Canadian players the Riders drafted with lower draft picks because it was felt they would be gone to the NFL for awhile.

Auclair, a tight end, just signed a one- year contract with Tampa Bay while Oneyemata, a defensive lineman, resigned with New Orleans, who originally drafted him. Highly unlikely the Riders will see him, Auclair is a long-shot, but these draft picks show the problems of how to get Canadian talent in the CFL, especially when the money is so much better.

The Riders have not been idle in the last couple of weeks. They finally filled the spot of defensive line coach with hiring Ben Olson. Olson is an American coach with seven years NCAA experience which prove useful in helping the defensive line become the force it needs to be.

The Riders signed defensive back Zach Sanchez, 5’11” 190 lbs who was with the Carolina Panthers and is 26 years old. The Riders also signed DB Tevin Mitchell, 27, 6’ 190 lbs who was drafted by Washington in 2015 in the sixth round and after the Redskins was with the Colts and Raiders.

The Riders also signed Christian Campbell, formerly of Penn State who was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in 2018 in the sixth round. He is 6’1” 195 lbs and apparently his high school football coach was the brother of former Rider Eddie Lowe. While his draft notes say he lacks play strength and not supporting the run, the Riders may use him at corner instead of linebacker.

The Riders with other CFL teams have cancelled free agent camps south of the border and now wait to see what happens and if the season will start June 11. I have read that perhaps the season will be pushed back to a Labour Day start, which means an abbreviated season because depending on how the virus develops, it is highly unlikely anyone wants to have 30,000 people gathered in public for a game.

I suspect the Touchdown Atlantic game between the Riders and Toronto is in danger of not going ahead, but again, anyone who has a handle on what is going to happen is just whistling in the dark at this point.

It appears baseball is looking to do a shortened season starting in July, the NBA may be looking at playing during the summer but how that works, especially if the NHL also is trying to extend their season in arenas likely empty of people.

So if the CFL schedule is abridged to say eight games, the season might start in September with the Riders-Bomber series to open things up for each team. The Riders also play Calgary twice, BC once, Edmonton once, Ottawa once and Hamilton once.

The CFL may rejig their schedule to allow for Western teams to play each other twice in an eight game schedule, eastern teams will be interesting to schedule, and the new proposed playoff structure may be in order just to make things interesting.

Again, this is just speculative, but as the scope of the crisis grows, things change on a daily if not an hourly basis.

So there will be football news with the NFL and then CFL drafts, but after that, what happens is anyone’s guess

by Greg Urbanoski

CFL has a lot to think about with COVID-19

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