It pays to be a CFL coach

The Toronto Argonauts, true to their nautical nickname, have given Marc Trestman a boatload of money.

According to Justin Dunk of 3DownNation. com, Trestman will receive $600,000-plus per annum over a three-year deal. And that is to be the head coach. Trestman will not have accompanying job descriptions such as general manager or vice-president of football operations. GM Jim Popp will handle the rest of the football operations.

Popp and Trestman give the Argonauts the best chance of reversing their fortunes. That is the good news for the Argos and the CFL.

The bad news: The riches are misdirected.

A player — not a head coach, not a GM, not a man of multiple titles — should be the highest-paid employee on every CFL team.

The players are the product. They are the ones who attract the fans and appear on highlight packages, which seldom show anyone in the act of coaching or generally managing.

Yet, the swollen salaries of coaches and GMs, et al, are guaranteed.

The players are not as fortunate. Life in the CFL is often a week-by-week proposition.

Players’ salaries are capped, whereas teams can (and often do) spend lavishly on coaches, GMs, et al.

Hence the salaries of Trestman, Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach/ GM/VPOFO Chris Jones and Hamilton Tiger-Cats head coach/VPOFO Kent Austin, all of whom reportedly earn more than $500,000 per annum.

Never in the salary cap era has a player entered the $600,000 stratosphere. Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Mike Reilly and TigerCats pivot Zach Collaros will reportedly make slightly more than $500,000 in 2017. Ex-Roughrider Darian Durant once commanded a comparable peak salary.

However, it reached the point where Jones determined that even $400,000 for Durant was too expensive (just like $200,000-plus was deemed excessive for Weston Dressler or John Chick). But there was nothing to prohibit or deter the team from paying Jones considerably more than some beloved players — you know, people who have actually produced victories of note in Saskatchewan. Lovely system, this. And now Trestman, a la Toronto Maple Leafs’ Mike Babcock, has raised the bar for head coaching salaries. Watch for coaches’ wages to escalate. Meanwhile, player compensation will continue to be regulated by a collectively bargained salary ceiling.

The teams have ample available cash, as evidenced by Trestman’s lottery win. Alas, a systemic double standard prevents the players from receiving a fair allocation of the dollars.

The players are the show. Show them the money.