DING, DING, DING
CFL free agents hope to feel the love, in cash
The opening bell of CFL free agency lands on Valentine’s Day, but even Cupid’s arrows might have trouble producing more than a handful of long-lasting relationships.
In today’s Canadian Football League landscape, teams and players are both showing less and less commitment to one another with each passing year.
That’s what happens when franchises start to feel the effects of loosening their purse strings in the wake of the 2014 CBA — a deal that saw the salary cap jump from $4.4 million in 2013 to an even $5 million in 2014, but has provided yearly increases of only $50,000 since — while key players are preferring to keep their options open with short-term deals.
What the initial cap jump did was give teams an influx of instant cash flow to keep their marquee players and Canadian talent in town, but it hasn’t made much of a difference for the middle-class CFL citizens, creating even more of a stars-and-scrubs roster building methodology.
Pay the elite, the guys you know can make a difference, and offset the big-ticket salaries you’re forced into forking out by squeezing the veteran players in the middle and looking for more minimum-wage options to balance the books.
While some deals for veterans may look good when signed this week, many undisclosed pay cuts down the road quietly sap the actual contract value.
On the flip side of the coin, the one-year deal that was also written into the CBA at the same time has given players a way to either bet on themselves or to keep NFL options open, leading to a recordbreaking number of names hitting free agency.
This year, the market is flooded with playmaking receivers and one or two all-star Americans at just about every position, but there isn’t a whole lot of bank-breaking Canadian talent on the loose.
Here’s a look at the top 10 players available regardless of position:
10
LB Winston Venable, Montreal Alouettes
In Chip Cox, Bear Woods and Venable, the Als have an embarrassment of riches in the second level of their defence, but they might not be able to keep it together any longer. The 29-year-old stuffed the stat sheet for the second consecutive season, racking up 88 tackles and seven sacks.
9
WR Kenny Shaw, Toronto Argonauts
After helping Jameis Winston to the Heisman Trophy at FSU in 2013, it didn’t take Shaw long to get comfortable in the CFL after arriving in Toronto late in the 2015 season. At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, the 25-year-old hauled in 77 receptions for 1,004 yards last season.
8
SB Terrell Sinkfield Jr., B.C. Lions
If we went 20 deep on this list, Nos. 11-20 would likely feature five or six more receivers, which gives you an idea of the receiver depth teams are staring at. Sinkfield is dangerous — he put up 1,030 receiving yards with the Ticats in 2015 before spending last summer in Minnesota Vikings training camp — and he’s got CFL star written all over him.
7
OL Nolan MacMillan, Ottawa Redblacks
The 2013 first-round pick has proven he can play multiple spots up front, but teams have likely spent the winter evaluating whether or not the 26-year-old can be a legit starting right tackle for the next five years. He’ll have significant interest due to the fact he’s by far the top national option available.
6
LB Khalil Bass, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Mike O’Shea’s defensive group took the football away from the opposing team more than anyone, and Bass was the leader of that turnover brigade. In two CFL seasons so far, all the Portland State product has done is produce, piling up 181 tackles, nine sacks, three interceptions, five forced fumbles and two defensive touchdowns.
5
LT Derek Dennis, Calgary Stampeders
While the offensive line is usually a spot teams look to stockpile Canadians at, a stud left tackle who can give your quarterback peace of mind is still worth a lot. After winning the CFL’s most outstanding lineman award for his air-tight blocking in front of Bo Levi Mitchell, the 28-yearold is positioned to become one of the league’s highest-paid import offensive lineman, similar to the contract Stanley Bryant signed to bolt Calgary for Winnipeg two years ago.
4
DB Emanuel Davis, Hamilton Tiger-Cats
This is a 1a and 1b scenario with the next guy on this list. Davis is just coming into his prime at the age of 27 and already has back-to-back seasons of five interceptions on his resume. As with any productive player still in his mid-20s, Davis could find an NFL offer to his liking, but he has a pretty lucrative fallback option thanks to his stellar CFL play at a tough position.
3
DB Abdul Kanneh, Ottawa Redblacks
Thanks to the fact the position doesn’t really exist on the smaller fields down south, most CFL personnel people would say the halfback spot is the toughest to develop quality players at. With new rule changes making it next to impossible to cover anyone, top flight defensive backs hitting the open market are going to get paid in a big way. Still only 26, Kanneh is just coming into his prime.
2
DT Cleyon Laing, Ottawa Redblacks
After spending the first half of the NFL season with the Miami Dolphins, the Edmonton product returned for a lateseason cameo but had trouble finding his groove. That’ll happen. While Laing is once again investigating his options down south at the age of 26, Canadian ratio-breakers at defensive tackle are worth a lot, and that’s exactly what Laing is when he turns his attention back to a CFL contract.
1
WR Ernest Jackson, Ottawa Redblacks
He’s not sexy, but CFL free agency rarely is. The reason the East Division Most Outstanding Player nominee resides at No. 1 on this list is because you know what you’re getting with the 30-year-old slotback. While he’s not the most explosive receiver available in a deep pool of passcatchers, he’s sure-handed and by far the safest, coming off piling up 88 receptions for 1,225 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s the opposite of another Redblacks free-agent receiver in Chris Williams, who would’ve been high on this list had he not torn his ACL in October. Ottawa may not be able to re-sign both.