The CFL and the CFL Players Association have reached another seven-year interim agreement.
According to a league source, the two sides reached a second deal in principle on Thursday, two days after CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie presented the league’s final offer to its players.
The source spoke on condition of anonymity, as neither the CFL nor the CFLPA have confirmed the deal.
The new agreement is pending ratification by both members of the CFL Players Association and the league’s governing board. According to two sources, players will vote on the deal Thursday night.
Time is of the essence as the CFL pre-season schedule is set to start on Friday night with two games.
On Monday, the players voted against an interim agreement that the union had recommended accepting. The CFLPA also recommends ratification of the interim agreement on Thursday.
According to sources, the CFL teams will have seven Canadian starters and a total of 21 on the roster this year. In 2023, that number will rise to eight, with a nationalized Canadian: an American who has spent five years in the CFL or at least three with the same team.
Clubs will also be able to rotate two nationalized Canadians up to 49 percent of the time. Teams may move to three nationalized Canadians in 2024, but the two franchises that play the most Canadians at the end of the season will receive additional second-round elections.
And the seven pure Canadian headlines per party will remain intact for the duration of the agreement, which can be reopened after five years when the CFL’s broadcast agreement with TSN expires.
The CFL will also provide $ 1.225 million in a ratification group for players.
But Canadian Justin Palardy, a former kicker who spent time with five CFL teams between 2010 and 2015, used social media to express his displeasure with the deal.
“As I said in another tweet, what’s the point of writing more (Canadian) if we get rid of Canadian headlines?” he tweeted. “Maybe you think it’s a great idea, it doesn’t make sense.”
Both sides had disagreed over the Canadian proportion.
Last Wednesday, the CFL and the CFLPA reached a seven-year interim agreement, which ended a four-day seven-day strike by nine teams in the league. At first glance, there seemed to be many positive aspects for players, including a revenue-sharing model, the possibility of reopening the pact in five years once the CFL signed a new retransmission agreement and veteran players with the ability to negotiate partially secured contracts. .
But the deal also called for CFL teams to increase the number of Canadian starters from seven to eight. The extra would also have been a nationalized Canadian.
In addition, three other nationalized Canadians could play up to 49 per cent of the snaps. And the agreement did not include a ratification bonus.
On Tuesday, Ambrosie introduced an amended proposal that included a $ 1 million ratification group and the abolition of the three nationalized Canadians who played 49 percent of the snaps. However, it also reduced the number of Canadian incumbents to seven, including one nationalized Canadian.
Ambrosie not only said it was the CFL’s final bid, but it was good until midnight ET on Thursday, as the league’s display schedule was scheduled to begin Friday night with two games. Ambrosie added that if the players turned down the offer and chose to return to the strike, they would be warned to leave their respective training camp facilities.
This was the second time that Ambrosie had been made public with a final contract offer to the CFLPA. On May 14, he posted a letter to fans on the league’s website detailing the league’s proposal to players hours before the old CBA expired.
The next day, players from seven CFL teams chose not to appear on the training ground and went on strike. The Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders opened the camp on schedule because they were not in a legal strike position at the time, according to provincial labor laws.
It was only the second stoppage in league history and the first since 1974.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on May 26, 2022.