Yikes! Lions 2024 potential free agents

[Hambone]

As for the flat salary rate I always wondered if that impacts a player's motivation? A player striving to be the best at his position stands to be rewarded at contract time. However would he lose some of that motivation if he won't make any more than the worst player at his position?

Some of that spring league motivation came in the form of winning the game to receive a bonus so they did have that angle covered. League champions got another financial reward iirc. Guys playing for a winning team might earn 20% more but they would have had to work for that money.

Also noticed in the Tim White contract details $12,000 for promo so no doubt the same category using a different descriptive term. $40,000 seems like a lot to give up to one guy though.

Does the $1000 XFL incentive for winning games do much for top talent players who found themselves on lousy teams? In the XFL the Brahmas placed 4 players on the All-Star team and won only 3 games. Guardians had 2 All-Stars who were rewarded only once with a $1000 bonus for a win. Similarly the 2-win Vipers placed 2 on the All-Star team. They were already close to being mathematically eliminated from the playoffs when they won their 1st game in Week 5.

In the USFL when they unionized prior to the 2023 season compensation for active players went from $4500 to $5350 per week + $150 towards a 401K for $5500 total. Weekly bonuses for winning were dropped.

[Qman]

110k marketing fund is a floor not a cap.
Housing allowance just creates tax efficient salary. Bonuses are same.

As above noted the Incentive for winning games is gone with xfl. Cfl players could easily include this.

Salary spent per cfl team is in the 8 million range. Salary cap only includes 2/3rd of total player $

[Hambone]

110k marketing fund is a floor not a cap.
Housing allowance just creates tax efficient salary. Bonuses are same.

As above noted the Incentive for winning games is gone with xfl. Cfl players could easily include this.

Salary spent per cfl team is in the 8 million range. Salary cap only includes 2/3rd of total player $

Trying to figure out the marketing fund. CFL detractors have long complained that the CFL does a lousy job of marketing its stars. Maybe this fund is intended to make it attractive for both the player and team to market the stars?

It would take a change in the CBA to be able to offer bonuses for wins. Per the CBA teams cannot offer nor can players receive any form of bonus based on wins or team record.

[don corleone]

110k marketing fund is a floor not a cap.
Housing allowance just creates tax efficient salary. Bonuses are same.

As above noted the Incentive for winning games is gone with xfl. Cfl players could easily include this.

Salary spent per cfl team is in the 8 million range. Salary cap only includes 2/3rd of total player $

Interesting numbers that again raise the question of the current salary management system being an effective tool and solution for the job it was intended to do. If teams can spend $500,000 on marketing by paying players as they pick and choose without recourse then there is no real S.M.S. IMO.

Still don't get with only 9 teams in the league that all need each other that they can't have clear rules and abide by them. If the CFL were a psychiatric patient it would be a basket case.

[Qman]

110k marketing fund is a floor not a cap.
Housing allowance just creates tax efficient salary. Bonuses are same.

As above noted the Incentive for winning games is gone with xfl. Cfl players could easily include this.

Salary spent per cfl team is in the 8 million range. Salary cap only includes 2/3rd of total player $

Interesting numbers that again raise the question of the current salary management system being an effective tool and solution for the job it was intended to do. If teams can spend $500,000 on marketing by paying players as they pick and choose without recourse then there is no real S.M.S. IMO.

Still don't get with only 9 teams in the league that all need each other that they can't have clear rules and abide by them. If the CFL were a psychiatric patient it would be a basket case.

Issue with marketing fund is has to be earned. Ie. $500 to visit a school. That’s a whole lot of off-season work if you pay a guy $100k from this fund.

[Qman]

110k marketing fund is a floor not a cap.
Housing allowance just creates tax efficient salary. Bonuses are same.

As above noted the Incentive for winning games is gone with xfl. Cfl players could easily include this.

Salary spent per cfl team is in the 8 million range. Salary cap only includes 2/3rd of total player $

Interesting numbers that again raise the question of the current salary management system being an effective tool and solution for the job it was intended to do. If teams can spend $500,000 on marketing by paying players as they pick and choose without recourse then there is no real S.M.S. IMO.

Still don't get with only 9 teams in the league that all need each other that they can't have clear rules and abide by them. If the CFL were a psychiatric patient it would be a basket case.

Issue with marketing fund is has to be earned. Ie. $500 to visit a school. That’s a whole lot of off-season work if you pay a guy $100k from this fund.

[B.C.FAN]

The marketing and promotional fees I’ve seen in current CFL contracts are up to about $12,000 each, so that’s 24 appearances at $500 each or 120 hours at $100/hour, which isn’t onerous if it includes offseason appearances.

The team salary cap figures in the latest CBA are somewhat confusing. Salaries are capped at $5.525 million per team, plus a MINIMUM $110,000 in non-football-related fees, for an overall cap of $5.635 million. So if a team spends more than the minimum $110,000 in non-football-related payments to players, do they have to spend less than $5.525 million on football salaries to stay within the overall cap of $5.635 million?

[Hambone]

I think people are jumping to a lot of conclusions on this marketing fund. I think there's a lot more to it based on some excerpts from what BCF posted.

1) First off this isn't new. It started in 2023 with a $60K fund that has been bumped to $110K this 2024 and beyond.
2) Fund is for Non-Football Related services such as community appearances, outreach and promotion.
3) These amounts will be mandatory minimum amounts for each club and will be subject to strict audit rules.

For years players have been volunteering their time to go out into the community. Often, at least in the offseason when much of this type of work happens, it's not the face of the franchise types who may not live year around in the market but rather the foot soldier types who happen to live nearby. A process for compensating players financially for these efforts, which in turn would encourage more such activity, was badly needed. I think they also needed a way to distinguish such activities for what they really are; business operations costs, not football costs.

The idea of strict audit rules tells me teams will have to prove the player and money was used appropriately in such efforts. It shouldn't be difficult to flush out any hanky-panky. In addition to whatever the player is compensated for an appearance club would also have incurred their own expenses for it. There would be an easy audit trail to verify if money was spent as claimed.

Finally while the idea of $500 for a school visit could be valid in some cases it certainly doesn't cover everything. Lions players make such appearances all over the Province. Last year some players came up to PG to run a Play With the Pros Clinic for kids as well as other community appearances finishing with a promotional stop at the Black Clover Pub. Players and staff participating were gone from home better part of 3 days to put all that on. So while it would take a lot of visits at $500 each a bunch of visits to the central Interior, Okanagan, Kootenay and Vancouver Island could chew up a big chunk of that fund quite fast.

[don corleone]

One thing about getting the owners on the same page is the different ownership models and objectives of private and community owned clubs. I see more accountability with the privately owned teams and it will be interesting to see which way Edmonton goes. I hope they go to a publicly listed corporation with the accompanying accountability that goes with the corporate world. Nothing wrong with full disclosure. Win a cup and pay a dividend. Plenty of room for a major shareholder as well.

To redirect back toward the thread topic I see Rasheed Bailey signing with the Argos which may suggest Cam Phillips will not be back. I think the Lions need 1 more guy but not saying they don't already have him coming to camp as an unknown. Phillips was good last year and expect he signs somewhere.

I would not be surprised if V.A. has made a case for signing Jake Wieneke who might be good depth at the right price.

[Toppy Vann]

I was curious about Rasheed Bailey as he had some 46 catches for over 500 yards last year which given their pass catching contingent was actually quite decent as you only have so many passes to to go around. I think he's a decent REC still at 30 as he's hardly been overworked in WPG but did get hurt last year. I also read that last year he took a Bomber friendly contract just to stay.

I guess this is purely a SMS decision. Upside is he's closer to home in Toronto. Downside. CFL needs these long term players sticking with their teams.
Clearly the Bombers can do a Moneyball and replace his 46 for 508 yds if I got the numbers correct.

Ideally for the CFL is to be where you can keep the players you want to keep not just be forced to say "I don't anticipate _____ to be back."

This week, Bailey’s time with the Bombers came to an end with these simple words from GM Kyle Walters printed Feb 15:

“I don’t anticipate Rasheed back,” Walters told reporters on Wednesday.

Like others, Bailey is the victim of a salary-cap squeeze that left him only crumbs. It’s the harsh reality of the CFL. There’s only so much to go around.

Maybe he could have been back as I might be reading this wrong but he'd take a financial hair cut. However, you don't want a guy unhappy with his contract despite the reality that everyone thinks they should earn more. Those feeling screwed are not good for your team.

https://winnipegsun.com/sports/football ... ys-goodbye

[Qman]

The marketing and promotional fees I’ve seen in current CFL contracts are up to about $12,000 each, so that’s 24 appearances at $500 each or 120 hours at $100/hour, which isn’t onerous if it includes offseason appearances.

The team salary cap figures in the latest CBA are somewhat confusing. Salaries are capped at $5.525 million per team, plus a MINIMUM $110,000 in non-football-related fees, for an overall cap of $5.635 million. So if a team spends more than the minimum $110,000 in non-football-related payments to players, do they have to spend less than $5.525 million on football salaries to stay within the overall cap of $5.635 million?

Schoen got 35k and doesn’t live in Winnipeg in off-season.

No it’s an unlimited amount.

[B.C.FAN]

The CBA calls for a minimum of $110,000 per team in player marketing and promotional fees but the overall cap including those fees is $5.635 million, plus a share of any league revenue growth.

[don corleone]

Sounded earlier there was zero interest in bringing Lucky back but he might be just the guy they need while waiting on Hatcher. Qualifies as a marketable personality if nothing else although it seems he may not be a Rick Campbell favorite similar to the way Loucheiz Purifoy was . He does know the playbook and brings speed that others do not have. Probably won't have too many options but in a Grey Cup hosting year it never hurts to have game breakers on the roster. I don't think Terry Williams replaces him as a receiver.

[David]

Sounded earlier there was zero interest in bringing Lucky back but he might be just the guy they need while waiting on Hatcher. Qualifies as a marketable personality if nothing else although it seems he may not be a Rick Campbell favorite similar to the way Loucheiz Purifoy was . He does know the playbook and brings speed that others do not have. Probably won't have too many options but in a Grey Cup hosting year it never hurts to have game breakers on the roster. I don't think Terry Williams replaces him as a receiver.

SMS or not, I think the club has moved on from Lucky. I don't discount the fan identification he brings but there are younger, cheaper options out there. I was surprised to learn that his catches to targets % last year was 65.91%, about middle of the pack for the Leos, just slightly above Hatch (64.46%) but obviously nowhere as good as Cottoy (83.82%). My perception was that Lucky dropped a lot of passes last year.

The club has signed a lot of American free agent receivers this off-season. We shall see whether they can match Lucky's speed but at 32 (this June), he's not getting any faster.



DH

[Hambone]

Sounded earlier there was zero interest in bringing Lucky back but he might be just the guy they need while waiting on Hatcher. Qualifies as a marketable personality if nothing else although it seems he may not be a Rick Campbell favorite similar to the way Loucheiz Purifoy was . He does know the playbook and brings speed that others do not have. Probably won't have too many options but in a Grey Cup hosting year it never hurts to have game breakers on the roster. I don't think Terry Williams replaces him as a receiver.

I don't see Williams as replacing Whitehead either, at least not as a regular starter. He still could be rotated in on occasion or be an in-game injury replacement. He looked really good in his TC reps as a receiver last year. If they were to use him in a regular receiving role it would come with a change at primary kick returner. I expect him to remain in his KR Specialist/depth WR role. However I think Lucky no longer possesses that same game breaking speed he displayed back in 2021. Seems like he's constantly been battling ankle injuries over the past two seasons that may have permanently robbed him of that top-end speed. However when I do see Lucky's name while looking at my spreadsheet on this year's remaining pending FAs something in the back of my mind tells me the door may not be totally closed on him returning yet. Still the price has to be right and what might be right for the Lions might not be right for Lucky.

Regardless I do believe the Lions will attempt to start the season with Hollins, Cottoy, McInnis and two CFL newcomers starting with Harty being the primary back up for all 5 as I think they will dress only 6 with Williams serving as a 7th in a pinch. One area of strength in Rigmaiden's group has been ability to find receivers. At the same time having a bunch of veterans on the 46 has been a roadblock to getting guys like Hatcher then Hollins into the lineup until well into the season and only thanks to injuries to starters. Personally I like the idea of filling Hatcher's spot and the other vacancy with newcomer(s) to the CFL versus plugging up the depth chart with veteran(s) who are on the decline.

The list of remaining FA receivers, including ages on Week 1, is fairly thin. Several big names in there almost of them having their best years in the rear view mirror. I include the first 6 in the following plus Wieneke as being past their best before date. Phillips is the one name that could be interesting.

BCL WHITEHEAD Lucky A - 32
EDM ARCENEAUX Emmanuel A - 36
HAM WALKER Derel A - 32
HAM WILLIAMS D’haquille A - 31
MTL ELLINGSON Greg A - 35
OTT EVANS Shaq A - 33
OTT MARINER Siaosi A - 27
SSK WIENEKE, Jake A - 29
TOR PHILLIPS Cameron A - 28
WPG GRANT Janarion A - 30

BCL PETERMANN Daniel N - 28
CGY HUNCHAK Colton N - 26
HAM MAYALA Hergy N - 28
HAM OSEI-KUSI Chris N - 26
OTT SMITH Tevaun N - 31
SSK BRESCACIN Juwan N - 31


I never saw Purifoy as being a Campbell favourite. If anything the way Purifoy left Ottawa most here were surprised to see him resurface in BC. As it was the reunification lasted only one season with Purifoy losing his SAM job to Rugamba half way through the season.