2022 CBA Thread

First step taken. Current agreement expires May 14, 2022

We'll see how long the league reciprocates, through they'll likely not make a statement publicly.

Time to buckle up... hopefully this can all be contained in one thread :wink:

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How long before the rumours of the league wanting to reduce the number of Nationals starts up?

I'm interested to see what, if any, ideas for improving roster stability are suggested. A while ago, someone from the PA ackowledged that it's an issue. Is there a way to convince the players to agree to ditch the 1-year contracts in favour of longer term ones?

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That can motivate both sides to come up with a better CBA.

I’m though the rumours are being worked on as we speak :wink:

Re: Getting longer contracts will be a challenge. Naylor posted an article a few weeks ago, though this sucks for fans, the current system works well for both parties.

Since contracts are not guaranteed, players can sign one year, have a good season and cash in the following one.

By not guaranteed them, teams are not saddled with a bad contract if they underperform costing more to get out of them. I don’t think a mulligan can he negotiated like they do have with the ops cap.

If owners agree to guarantee part of the contract, what concession would they look for in return or v.v
that’s where this falls short.

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A fair comment.

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More players are NOT going for multiyear contracts because GMs are not offering good enough incentive to sign such contracts
 And again teams routinely cut players just before a large bonus is to be paid
 Or ask their multi year players to continually take cuts " for the betterment of the team" That above all is why one year contracts are the norm.

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Justin Dunk says there are some clubs that want the salary cap to drop to $5 million. Other teams want it to remain at $5.35 million or a little higher. Toronto apparently wants the number to be at the high end.

Other than the unfounded jokes that the Argos are always over the cap, Dunk does not understand why this would be the case.

I renewed my season's ticket yesterday.

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It makes a lot of sense really when you think about it. Most fans I think just care if their team is at least in the hunt for the GC, players come and go from teams in all leagues nowadays really, part of the norm.
This is a good read here about the NFL Chiefs:

“In an offseason with a falling salary cap, it was not surprising to see many players around the league take one-year contracts in order to try and cash out next season”
https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs/gm-report/the-pros-and-cons-of-one-year-contracts

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As soon as the players ask for more money. Being as the PA has been run by Canadian O-Lineman for a while, they usually capitulate shortly there after.

Not nearly as bad as in the CFL. In the NHL, for example, most rosters turn over like 12-15% while in the CFL it can be closer to 30%.
That wreaks havoc on fan support, and is one of the primary reasons the leaguie struggles with fan identity

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Get used to it though, the CFL is different from the majors because players aren’t paid that well so some players, thinking Canadians, will want to go back to near their hometown to play in some cases to try and land a job where their family is for life after football and again with low salaries, every penny counts so players will try and just move where they can get some extra money before their short football career, and it is the shortest in football compared to most, comes to an end.
The way it’s going to be I would say. Again very difficult to compare a domestic league with much lower salaries to the majors.
But I agree, this is another pressure point for fan identity with the CFL for many fans, no question. I just don’t see a solution for those types of fans who need this for a sports team with the CFL. Yes, it will be difficult to keep these fans as fans of the CFL.

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Given the high salaries paid to some players, including free agents, I can't understand that some teams would like the max. cap reduced from $5.350 millions to $5.0 millions. If the max. cap for 2022 was at $5.0 millions the majority of teams would excess the cap; the possible exception could be the Calgary Stampeders. If the cap is reduced to $5.0 millions, I expect the numbers of dressed players to be released from 44 to 42.

It's time to enhance the products "et non le diluer" .

I hope that the max. cap will be increased along with the numbers of players dressed. I would hope for a max. cap ranging between $5.450 and $5.5 millions in 2022. Regarding the numbers of players dressed I hope for : 3 QBs, 21 Nationals, 20 Americans and a max. of 2 Global players, for a total of 46. I don't have to live the same situation as in 2021; hence, if a team dressed 2 Global they could dress only 20 Nationals. It's the Canadian Football League and not Global League. Global players cannot be dressed " au détriment des joueurs Nationaux".

Richard

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Randy did say a while ago that all options are on the table. Whatever that means. Like four downs?, less Canadian starters? If they want more scoring and entertainment, 4 downs and keep the rules the same would be an option. The defenses are so good now in the CFL that the increased scoring wouldn’t be hugh IMO.

All options on the table referred to what the Rules Committee controls in terms of how they can tweak the gameplay.

Changes to and within the ratio would have to be negotiated in the CBA and agreed to by the owners and players.

Teams have signed players, their own and others via free agency. Coaches are putting together their playbooks. The longer nothing is said from the Rules Committee, the more likely there are no major rule changes for 2022.

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People have to realize the CFL is not a major league, it's a small domestic league, with anything near major league salaries and players are going to "come and go" as a result much more than the majors.
If the CFL wants to be more major-league, they are going to have align themselves with the NFL as much as possible because the current model, as much as it's "working", is not going to make the CFL into a major league, at all, any time soon.
So if the NFL, now they are working with the XFL as we know, says to the CFL "do this" and if you "do this" you will gain from us in whatever way, then the CFL better f........n do it. The CFL is dead remaining as it is as a small domestic league under it's current model.

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I don’t think the CFL has ever said to be major league or they ever said they can compete with the NFL.

Revenue sharing is a start along with getting a tenth franchise (Moncton or Halifax or Quebec City).

We’ll have a better idea after this season to see where the CFL stands.

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Put some partial guarantee into the contracts.

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Nope. The NFL in no way whatsoever has the CFL’s best interests at heart so it would be nothing but foolish to take their directives. Besides, the NFL has nothing to do with the CFL’s collective bargaining with its players, at least nothing that requires a say-so from the NFL, so this is totally off topic.

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Keeping the cap down, since revenues are down. Keeping the roster from growing. Football is inherently the most expensive game of the big 4 and the CFL’s salaries-to-revenue ratio is even more disproportionate. The roster is plenty big enough. I’m not a proponent of slashing rosters and jobs, but every 3 or 4 years they add another guy or two to the roster. It’s unneccessary. As a fan in your armchair, ask yourself: if the CFL roster was 40, 45 or 50, would you notice a difference in the play? The answer is no. Let’s keep a lid on it.

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