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CardiacKid wrote: Maybe the Leo's should put Paul McCallum on retainer as an in-house real estate agent and see about getting players better deals on housing as a "contract incentive"?!?! Especially seeing as the Lower Mainland housing market is supposedly a big hurdle in getting guys to join the Leos.

Maybe Bosa Properties as a sponsor could build something akin to the "company town" of old. Only it would be for Lion's players and their families and be a fraction of the cost of typical property prices.

I have long thought that Braley should buy an apartment building, for use by the relatively low paid players. As with anything, there could be a downside. It might turn into a cat house, full of football groupies and hookers. Animal House.

Part of the salary? Financially, it could still be advantageous to the players.

B.C.FAN wrote:CFL contracts are paid in Canadian dollars. A housing allowance would likely be considered a paid benefit under the SMS. I'm not sure about subsidized housing provided by a team sponsor.

My comment on having a "Leo's Village" was mostly tongue-in-cheek...I imagine for team unity a vast majority of the players would need to get away from each other just to stay sane....

But I often think around the free agent deadline, the Leo's need to think outside the box when it comes to mitigating the horrendous cost of living in the lower mainland and its deleterious affect on attracting players. Just like what some northern communities have to resort to in order to attract a doctor....provide a house or pay for their student loans.

Maybe the Leo's can create a scholarship fund for players to get training during the off-season for a career after football. Yes, the vast majority of these guys have gone through post-secondary but we hear stories all to consistently about guys struggling in life once they are finished playing. Maybe it could be for their families as well.

I don't know...just thinking out loud that some form of "value-added" incentive for players to come to BC might be necessary.

WestCoastJoe wrote:

CardiacKid wrote: Maybe the Leo's should put Paul McCallum on retainer as an in-house real estate agent and see about getting players better deals on housing as a "contract incentive"?!?! Especially seeing as the Lower Mainland housing market is supposedly a big hurdle in getting guys to join the Leos.

Maybe Bosa Properties as a sponsor could build something akin to the "company town" of old. Only it would be for Lion's players and their families and be a fraction of the cost of typical property prices.

I have long thought that Braley should buy an apartment building, for use by the relatively low paid players. As with anything, there could be a downside. It might turn into a cat house, full of football groupies and hookers. Animal House.

Part of the salary? Financially, it could still be advantageous to the players.

I distinctly remember from last summer just before training camp that Hunter Steward had posted ads on Craigslist and Kijiji looking for a basement apartment or something similarly inexpensive in and around Surrey. At least they purported to be by Hunter Steward. I remember thinking "wow, he has to compete with everyone else when it comes to finding an affordable place to live".

WestCoastJoe wrote:

CardiacKid wrote: Maybe the Leo's should put Paul McCallum on retainer as an in-house real estate agent and see about getting players better deals on housing as a "contract incentive"?!?! Especially seeing as the Lower Mainland housing market is supposedly a big hurdle in getting guys to join the Leos.

Maybe Bosa Properties as a sponsor could build something akin to the "company town" of old. Only it would be for Lion's players and their families and be a fraction of the cost of typical property prices.

I have long thought that Braley should buy an apartment building, for use by the relatively low paid players. As with anything, there could be a downside. It might turn into a cat house, full of football groupies and hookers. Animal House.

Part of the salary? Financially, it could still be advantageous to the players.

Braley/club owns a bunch of units in the newly built condos around the practice facility. Thats where the PR and tryout players stay as well as players making the minimum until they get estiblished. CFL average salary is 111k this year, so if your starting you are not hurting for $$$.

TheLionKing wrote:http://www.tsn.ca/qb-jennings-wants-to- ... p-1.462343

"I don't want this becoming a distraction and it's becoming a distraction,” said Buono. “We'd like to get him to a bridge contract and want to make sure that both the player and club are taken care of."
There have been suggestions in recent weeks that Jennings’ new agent, Bardia Gharemenia, would encourage his client to hold out if the Lions wouldn’t pony up, but Gharemenia doesn’t want to go there.
“Holding out is not a good option for a young quarterback. He needs to play at this stage of his career and he wants to be there for the start of camp,” said Gharemenia.

Farhan did a good job in highlighting the common ground between Wally and Jennings' agent. I've maintained all along that a deal will get done and any tough talk from either side in the interim could safely be ignored.

Qman wrote:

WestCoastJoe wrote:

CardiacKid wrote: Maybe the Leo's should put Paul McCallum on retainer as an in-house real estate agent and see about getting players better deals on housing as a "contract incentive"?!?! Especially seeing as the Lower Mainland housing market is supposedly a big hurdle in getting guys to join the Leos.

Maybe Bosa Properties as a sponsor could build something akin to the "company town" of old. Only it would be for Lion's players and their families and be a fraction of the cost of typical property prices.

I have long thought that Braley should buy an apartment building, for use by the relatively low paid players. As with anything, there could be a downside. It might turn into a cat house, full of football groupies and hookers. Animal House.

Part of the salary? Financially, it could still be advantageous to the players.

Braley/club owns a bunch of units in the newly built condos around the practice facility. Thats where the PR and tryout players stay as well as players making the minimum until they get estiblished. CFL average salary is 111k this year, so if your starting you are not hurting for $$$.

In Article 15 - Competitive Expenditures of the CFL Constitution it indicates any housing allowances granted to players count under the SEC. It doesn't clarify if housing allowance means the dollar value of free accommodations if the club was to provide or an amount a player might be paid as an allowance to help subsidize accommodation costs. Per the CBA teams are allowed to provide the reasonable value of 7 days lodging expense for PR players at any point from the start of the season until the end of the month in which the season ends. The exemption cannot apply twice to the same player in the same SEC (Salary Expenditure Cap) year. I take that to mean that the club can provide a PR player with 7 days lodging without it counting against the cap but can only do that once. I suppose if the club owns or leases some places they could in turn rent them to the players at a nominal rate. Certainly it's not uncommon for PR players and 1st and 2nd year players to share an apartment.

are they still able to use personal services contracts to get around the cap??

According to Rick Dhaliwal of News1130, the Lions are close to signing Jennings to an extension with a raise and an NFL window.

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports
Have learned the #BCLions and quarterback Jonathan Jennings have been exchanging proposals about a new contract in the last week.

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports
A deal should get done soon for Jennings and the #BCLions - both sides on same page. Will be at training camp.

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports
When done, Jennings new deal with #BCLions should give him a nice pay raise, extra year and NFL window.

B.C.FAN wrote:According to Rick Dhaliwal of News1130, the Lions are close to signing Jennings to an extension with a raise and an NFL window.

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports
Have learned the #BCLions and quarterback Jonathan Jennings have been exchanging proposals about a new contract in the last week.

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports
A deal should get done soon for Jennings and the #BCLions - both sides on same page. Will be at training camp.

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports
When done, Jennings new deal with #BCLions should give him a nice pay raise, extra year and NFL window.

Good news. Progressive.

Maybe the presence of Vernon Adams as a potential 5th QB at training camp shook things up a little bit? Just thinkin' out loud....

CardiacKid wrote:Maybe the presence of Vernon Adams as a potential 5th QB at training camp shook things up a little bit? Just thinkin' out loud....

Didn't Adams get an invite to a Seahawks mini camp? If so he may not be at the Lions TC.

DanoT wrote:

CardiacKid wrote:Maybe the presence of Vernon Adams as a potential 5th QB at training camp shook things up a little bit? Just thinkin' out loud....

Didn't Adams get an invite to a Seahawks mini camp? If so he may not be at the Lions TC.

Wally is lobbying Adams and Farhan Lalji has tweeted a couple of times that Wally is positioning the Leo's and the CFL game as a natural fit for the QB. Yes he does have an invite to the Seahawks and Redskins camps but the Leo's hold his negotiation rights and Wally believes NFL teams are too prejudiced against small QBs. A significant number of Yankee publications agree...

The Lions have signed Jennings to an extension through 2018.
Team announcement

News1130 has an unconfirmed report that the deal is worth close to $800,000 over three years.

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports
Hearing Jonathon Jennings extension with the #BCLions is close to 800,000 dollars over the next 3 years. Big number in 3rd year.

Great news on Jennings. Now up to Khari Jones as OC to continue is development. Offence and a dynamic QB is what sell tickets. Really is make it or break point of Jones career if he is to be a head coach one day. Hoping he learned a lot under Tedford/Cortez last season.