Despite signing a 3-year contract in June, 2009 CFL Rookie of Year Mallet has been given permission for NFL tryouts in Philadelphia and St. Louis. He apparently has a "special contract" which allows him to sign in the NFL after his rookie 2009 season, but bars him from being signed by another CFL team until the 2012 season. Who the heck is running this two-bit league?
[url=http://communities.canada.com/theprovince/blogs/fifthquarter/default.aspx]http://communities.canada.com/theprovin ... fault.aspx[/url]I think it is a mistake for CFL teams to give in to these types of requests with prospective players. That kind of player movement if allowed will turn perception of the league to that of a "farm" team and will attract the wrong type of individuals to the league. If a player's main drive to coming to the CFL is to jump ship to the NFL within months of coming to our league, he's the wrong type of player.
"Wrong type of player"? Is that a joke or something Hf? So in an interview, a GM asks the question of the potential CFL player "Are you coming to the CFL just to jump to the NFL at the first opportunity"? Ummm, I think every player would say "yes". I would too. The wrong type of player is the player that is not as good as the one being interviewed then and that would be nuts. The CFL is a farm league of sorts to the NFL just like the NFL is a farm league of sorts to the CFL, we get their guys who don't have an NFL contract but have worked all their football careers to get one. It's a two way street IMHO.
The only other solution is to make the CFL 100 percent Canadian and even there you will get the odd guy jumping for the NFL money at first chance. Now I don't have a problem with a contract that stipulates you cannot leave before 2 years regardless, then the "wrong" type of player might not sign in the first place.
Here's a good read on why CFL players are attracting so much NFL interest.
http://thespec.com/Sports/article/706174An excellent read and a very timely one! Article posted today.
Well lets hope the CFL and the Players association hammer out an agreement that closes the NFL "window" . and perhaps reducing the number of imports to less than half the current CFL roster is needed to weed out the import NFL pretenders. IMHO people would be surprised at the quality of CIS players who are automatically eliminated from CFL careers because of Import designated positions.
What Drew's story doesn't talk about is the fans. Sure it's a great opportunity for the players who could lose half a season's salary and this brings plenty of new prospects into the CFL. But fans don't want to see new prospects every year. They want to develop good players who can help their team win and players they can identify with. Not transients whose main goal is to use the CFL as a temporary stepping stone and leave as soon as possible.
There is a steep learning curve for first year American players to learn the Canadian game, that's why the CFL has traditionally mandated minimum two-year contracts. By bringing in new players year after year the level of play will suffer. While these option year tryouts are good for the player's and perhaps good at bringing in new prospects...it's lousy for winning and lousy for the fans. This farm league mentality may come back and bite CFL teams, like the BC Lions who had many NFL defections last season and lost 6,000 fans per game.
The CFL must stop these option year tryouts and enforce the two-year minimum contracts. If they can't negotiate this option clause out of new players agreement, they might not have a league in 5 or 10 years that fans will bother watching.
Doesn't anyone else thinks it's odd that the league would allow the NFL to sign a player like Mallett after his rookie season in 2009, but other CFL teams must wait until the 2012 season to sign him?
…you are right-on my friend…if this is true with regards to Mallet…this is b.s…what a rinky-dink way of running a league…Some of these players must be laughing their heads-off all the way to the border…We have to plug these holes in that lousy CFL/nfl agreement NOW…OR the consequences WILL be a weakened ‘farm’ type league…i had to laugh when i read an article by a reporter , with regards to the poll, asking whether there was a problem with the current agreement with the nfl…He went on to say …well it was ONLY 55 PERCENT of fans that viewed there could be a problem… :lol: :lol: :lol: Seems to me that;s a helluva lot of dissatisfaction…wake-up man… :roll: :lol:
I agree 100%.
If Cohen is behind the scenes making a deal with the NFL to turn us into an official NFL feeder league.
Then going in public saying he would never do that to CFL fans.
Then this guy should get canned.
I would not support a CFL that has ties with the NFL as its minor league.
If players want to play in the CFL, they play as long as the contract runs.
Then if they get signed by the NFL, the CFL should get a transfer fee.
Like they do in soccer.
But this idea the league brings up players from the US of A with the promise they can break their deal
if the NFL calls has got to stop.
If this stops a few players from coming here, who really cares?
First off, nobody up here as ever heard of them in the first place. So they won't be missed.
And second, where else are they gonna go?
Hopefully I don't think Cohen is that dumb to get our league involved with the NFL.
Because the NFL is like the mafia. Once they get their hands on you, they'll bleed you dry.
Funnyyou mention the Mafia, i was thinking maybe the Canadian gov could put a income tax levy on players returning from failed nfl stints after they have been( discoverd trained and developed in the CFL) Any earnings they make down south should be taxed at 50 % if they want to return to Canada to play? similar to how the American gov dealt with Capone!
Pretty funny!
I think an American team that had gotten a player from a Canadian team might be more apt to return the favor when it has a player who would not make their team but could be good in Canada. Some might. Just another example of sleeping with an elephant.
Agreed, a contract is a contract.
By en large the No Funners play politics and most of the CFL players although good enough to play are no more than training camp fodder.
In fact, I would go as far as getting rid of the option year nonsense that gives the player the window of opportunity.
Intelligent players know that unless they get 6 figure signing bonuses, they are simply training camp fodder. That's why so few go.
As far as the rookie goes, wasn't there a clause in the bargaining that rookies had to be signed to one year plus an option and then if other years were added on, that was fine. But the teams were not allowed to avoid the option year. After a player's rookie year, players can be resigned for however long the team and players agree to. I thought Wally got in trouble for ignoring the option year rule last year with a couple of rookies.
That's all the more reason to get rid of the option year clause in the contracts.
this league is heading down hill in a hurry, i know so many bc fans out here that are on the fence of buying season tickets because of what is going on in the cfl, they do not care that they are going to play outside this year they care about losing players like grice mullin, Mallet and others, that will sell tickets, i predict that if there is not a change in this aggrement this june then you are going to see this league so waterd down that nobody is going to watch or go to games by the end of this year. So hope and pray this ends soon or i predict we are going to see the CFL back were it was in the mid 90's by next year with all half empty stadiums even more.
Wake up Cohon do something about this. ( Bob Ackles if he was still alive would have done someting about this already)
Dupsdell.
I think you're overreacting a bit.
First off your theory that people aren't going to renew season tickets based on talking to a few people doesn't prove anything.
But I agree that Cohen better not take the attiitude that his league will become the new NFL Europe farm league.
Because then you'll see alot of fans quit on this league.
Me included.
Time to act like an independant league with independant rules?
They can sign an iron clad 3 year deal here at around 90 grand per year.
Or they can get a job at their local McDonalds frying burgers for 6 bucks an hour.
Well there is one perk to that job.
They get to bring home the unsold burgers at the end of the night.
Overreacting for sure, there are so many excellent players in the US each year, we'll just get more. And if you cancel your seasons tickets because everything isn't just perfect, well, we don't want you as fans anyways. Nothing is perfect in life, support your team and your league otherwise there will be no league in Canada. Ok to voice your opinion to the CFL, everyone has opinions and that's the way it should be but as I say, no support, no league, that simple, it's everyone's choice.
It's the CFL, not the NFL, and players will always try and make the NFL if they can for the money. That's not to say Cohon shouldn't be working on something with Goodell that works as best as possible for both leagues and the players.
In the end, you quit on the league and the league fails, then what are you left with? Zippo pro ball in Canada, zippo CFL.
Have to disagree with you there Earl.
I say no more deals with the NFL.
We are an independant league.
We do not need the NFL to keep the CFL alive.
If players want to move to the NFL after their contracts expire, so be it.
But no way should we become a feeder league for the NFL.
Why some up here are so eager to submit to that league is beyond me.
And one more thing which the CFL has to do.
Charge transfer fees when a player leaves the league for the NFL.
Like the NHL does with the European hockey federations.
i am not turning my back on the league but as how hard this league has built itself back up again from the mid 90's were i say they were getting only about eighty thousand people in television rating per game were as know we are getting over five hundread thousand people per game, that is going to fall off completly if there is nothing done about it.
“Wrong type of player”? Is that a joke or something Hf? So in an interview, a GM asks the question of the potential CFL player “Are you coming to the CFL just to jump to the NFL at the first opportunity”? Ummm, I think every player would say “yes”.
Then as that GM you should kick him out the door and tell him “good luck on your NFL tryout” The CFL is NOT a farm league and should NEVER be perceived that way.