Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Canada, eh? League gives Manziel OK
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are now on the clock.
The Canadian Football League announced Thursday that it would approve a contract for quarterback Johnny Manziel if one was negotiated with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, who have the former Heisman Trophy winner on their negotiation list. The Tiger-Cats now have 10 days to make an offer to Manziel in order to maintain his rights or trade him to another team.
If Manziel doesn’t receive an offer from Hamilton or isn’t dealt by Jan. 7, he’ll become a free agent. But worth noting is Hamilton simply has to make an offer to Manziel and if it’s rejected, he’d remain on the Tiger-Cats’ negotiation list for another year.
Similarly, any team acquiring Manziel’s rights from Hamilton would then have a 10-day window to make him an offer. And as is the case with the Tiger-Cats, if Manziel turned that down, the new club would be able to keep him on its negotiation list for another year.
Erik Burkhardt, Manziel’s agent, didn’t immediately return a telephone message Thursday.
In August, Manziel worked out for the Tiger-Cats, who passed on making him an offer. But Manziel’s camp activated Hamilton’s 10-day window, forcing the CFL club to make a decision on whether to sign or trade him.
The CFL then stepped in and extended the window for further evaluation.
The following month, Manziel met with CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie to discuss a resolution, which included Manziel having to fulfill certain requirements to join the league. Shortly afterwards, the CFL announced the Tiger-Cats would hold Manziel’s rights until Nov. 30 before extending it again into January to continue with its due diligence.
Teams can have up to 45 players on their negotiation list, giving them exclusive CFL rights to those listed. Players can be added, removed or traded from the list at any time.