REDBLACKS sign Nichols, release Arbuckle

How on earth would a pay cut also be considered to include a sweetener? You’ve lost me, I’m afraid.

Correction: What I’ve actually suggested in this thread is that Arbuckle was offered a better (sweeter) restructured deal – not both pivots. Just keeping myself honest here.

The better restructured deal is the sweetener.
Afraid I can’t be any clearer than this.

I can’t be any clearer, either. I see no way any reduction in pay can be considered sweeter than what came before it. And you have not addressed the notion that neither Nichols nor Arbuckle had any leverage in negotiations. Why would the Argos “sweeten” the deal (whatever that means) for a guy who had no other team prepared to anoint him as its starter? They had a much stronger hand than he did. However, we are just going around in circles so may as well just agree to disagree.

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For the love of god yes; let’s agree to disagree.

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Signing bonuses paid to US players are taxed at the US rate of 15%

So If a US QB signs a $400K contract with $200K upfront signing bonus
$200K would be Canadian taxed at 45% and $200K would be taxed at 15 %
The "sweetener" is a large amount in a signing bonus
With C-19 it is a gamble by the team if there is no season or a very shortened season
Arbuckle wanted a $200K signing bonus and got it!
Nichols got a $200K report and pass physical at training camp.
No camp, No bonus, I'm not sure of the tax implications.

This explains it very well

American players pay income tax in Canada just like the rest of us do but a provision in the Canada-U.S. income tax treaty allows international players who maintain a permanent residence south of the border to be taxed just 15 per cent on any signing bonus – much less than their usual Canadian tax rate.

According to CFL sources, Green’s original contract called for a salary of $250,000 in 2016, meaning he would have expected to pay approximately $105,000 in federal and provincial taxes for take home pay in the $145,000 range.

Under the newly-restructured deal, Green will be paid $225,000 but he received a $100,000 signing bonus. The bonus is taxed at 15 per cent ($15,000) while the remainder is taxed less because of Canada’s progressive tax system which sees higher income earners taxed at a higher rate. His total tax burden now about $58,000, leaving $167,000 remaining.

So even though the Green’s total compensation is $25,000 less he is actually taking home $22,000 more – getting a significant chunk of that money immediately

What seems to be forgotten here is that Arbuckle was, according to various reports, due to get a $150k roster bonus from the Redblacks on Monday. So even if he negotiated a $150k signing bonus from the Argos, there was no sweetener about it. He ended up with exactly what he had negotiated previously in terms of a Feb. 1 bonus -- and there is no doubt his overall compensation for 2021 is going to be substantially lower than it would have been had Ott honoured his original contract. What's sweet about that?

I don't understand this sweetener thing. It's pretty obvious that Toronto didn't really want Nichols in comparison to Arbuckle. Both appear to have taken less more, which would've happened anyways with all the uncertainty. Seems pretty clear to me, that both teams got what they wanted, and so did the players.