No more waivers....

[Shi Zi Mi]

It appears another of the "hidden gems" of the new CBA has been uncovered by LU.....the elimination of the waiver rule (in most cases?????)

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/footb ... um=twitter

[B.C.FAN]

Hmm. It "left some Lions players shocked upon hearing about the development after practice Tuesday." Presumably, players have all had a chance to read the CBA, not that I'd expect all of them to do so. Fans haven't had such an opportunity. I wonder how many more of these surprises are buried in the fine print.

[TheLionKing]

“If I’m selling a player to the NFL, how is that perceived? That would be disingenuous to our fans. We owe it to our season-ticket holders who buy tickets under the premise the players we sign are here.”

Totally agree. Selling players to the other league will just reinforce some people's view that the CFL is nothing more than a developmental league

[DanoT]

Didn't Bud Grant, when he was GM of the Vikings, make some sort of trade or purchase to acquire Joe Kapp from the Lions in the late 1960s?

[Shi Zi Mi]

I wonder how many more of these surprises are buried in the fine print.

Yep....this undeniable need of the CFL to treat it's fans like mushrooms.

I would really LOVE to hear an explanation why the league finds this SO necessary.....I find it insulting and disrespectful that they claim to be cognizant of the importance of their fans, yet couldn't give a *poop* about keeping us informed of ALL the goings on in the league.

[DanoT]

I wonder how many more of these surprises are buried in the fine print.

Yep....this undeniable need of the CFL to treat it's fans like mushrooms.

I would really LOVE to hear an explanation why the league finds this SO necessary.....I find it insulting and disrespectful that they claim to be cognizant of the importance of their fans, yet couldn't give a *poop* about keeping us informed of ALL the goings on in the league.

IMO the number of fans that the CFL will loose by maintaining a secret Negotiation List and undisclosed CBA etc, is 0.

IMO the number of fans that the CFL will gain by being less secretive on these types of things is 0.

So don't expect any changes on the part of the CFL any time soon.

[JohnHenry]

The waiver system was pretty useless as released players could still sign in the NFL if they wanted to reject being claimed by a CFL team. Now teams like the Argos, who let players leave for the NFL with a year left on their CFL contract, can now be financially compensated if a NFL team wants to sign him.

The league operated for 15 years allowing players to leave for the NFL in their option years, now teams can be fairly compensated. Teams like the Lions are not forced to release or sell players if they don't choose to. So this new rule could be the best of both worlds.

[Shi Zi Mi]

The waiver system was pretty useless as released players could still sign in the NFL if they wanted to reject being claimed by a CFL team.

I'm not sure what you mean by this??.......when a player was put on waivers, so was his existing contract.....any team putting in a claim assumed that contract and the player was bound to that team.

The only way he could go to the NFL directly is if no one claimed him and the contract was void.......or if the team assuming his contract chose to let him out (not sure why you'd claim a player, then let him go).

[JohnHenry]

The waiver system was pretty useless as released players could still sign in the NFL if they wanted to reject being claimed by a CFL team.

I'm not sure what you mean by this??.......when a player was put on waivers, so was his existing contract.....any team putting in a claim assumed that contract and the player was bound to that team.

The only way he could go to the NFL directly is if no one claimed him and the contract was void.......or if the team assuming his contract chose to let him out (not sure why you'd claim a player, then let him go).

It's my understanding that once a player is released he can choose to report to the CFL team who claimed him, or not. The claiming team might hold his CFL rights for a period of time (10 or 15 days) but then he can sign in the NFL or anywhere else. So most CFL teams don't bother claiming star players who are released early to sign in the NFL.

[Shi Zi Mi]

The waiver system was pretty useless as released players could still sign in the NFL if they wanted to reject being claimed by a CFL team.

I'm not sure what you mean by this??.......when a player was put on waivers, so was his existing contract.....any team putting in a claim assumed that contract and the player was bound to that team.

The only way he could go to the NFL directly is if no one claimed him and the contract was void.......or if the team assuming his contract chose to let him out (not sure why you'd claim a player, then let him go).

It's my understanding that once a player is released he can choose to report to the CFL team who claimed him, or not. The claiming team might hold his CFL rights for a period of time (10 or 15 days) but then he can sign in the NFL or anywhere else. So most CFL teams don't bother claiming star players who are released early to sign in the NFL.

A player's contract was still valid until he cleared waivers.......the NFL doesn't sign players under contract to another league......so if a player was claimed while still on waivers he couldn't sign in the NFL. If no one submits a claim, his contract is voided and he becomes a FA and can sign where ever he chooses.....it's why high priced, aging vets don't get claimed off waivers....no one wants to assume the existing contract.

[TheLionKing]

Didn't Bud Grant, when he was GM of the Vikings, make some sort of trade or purchase to acquire Joe Kapp from the Lions in the late 1960s?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Young

[Hambone]

[IMO the number of fans that the CFL will loose by maintaining a secret Negotiation List and undisclosed CBA etc, is 0.

The CBA is not undisclosed. Copies are easily retrievable from the BC Labour Relations Board website. The new one isn't there yet but the last 2 are readily available. I suspect within the next month or so the new CFL CBA will be added. Probably just waiting for the lawyers dot all the i's and cross all the t's before the final copy is submitted then maybe a bit longer for the LRB to update their website.

[Hambone]

Hmm. It "left some Lions players shocked upon hearing about the development after practice Tuesday." Presumably, players have all had a chance to read the CBA, not that I'd expect all of them to do so. Fans haven't had such an opportunity. I wonder how many more of these surprises are buried in the fine print.

And really how many players, unless they are aspiring lawyers, would bother. I just checked the copy of the previous CBA. Included are copies of the Drug Policy, CFL Constitution and CFL Bylaws. 325 pages total of rivetting reading for curing insomnia. Most players would be interested only in the Cole's Notes version and delivering that isn't the league's problem. The CFLPA are the ones who should be providing the players with such info and their interpretation of it. If the players are shocked then they have nobody to blame but their own union for not disclosing these changes to them.

[TheLionKing]

Isn't that what player agents are for aside from negotiating a contract for their client ?

[Hambone]

Really I don't see anything in that article indicating anything earth shattering. Looks to me like what they're doing with the waiver thing is streamlining the paperwork process to reduce what is likely a time consuming bureaucratic pain in the butt at the CFL office in Toronto. If I'm reading it correctly teams are making multiple waiver transactions every week I'm assuming only to gauge the threat of losing a player they might want to drop from the 46 down to the PR. Looks like the idea now is that if you release a player, he's released and free to go elsewhere; effectively a free agent. All this really means is there is no right to recall on waivers. I don't really see that as being more than a subtle difference to the players. They'd still be free to sign a PR deal and stay put. It probably has more impact on the GMs than the players as it would be forcing them to crap or get off the pot. No more dicking around with putting a bunch of players on waivers that you don't really want to waive.

As for the selling of players buying, selling and transfering of contracts from one league to another, one country to another well that's been going on forever in soccer. Even then I believe they have defined transfer windows where such transactions can occur. In the case of the CFL I think it would only be the exceptional players like Wake where that might come into play. I'm not sure NFL teams would be interested in spending money of any significance to purchase the contract of a CFL player unless they were confident that player could make an impact with them or it was later on in the season where they had depth issues due to injury. Like any other deal it takes both sides to come to an agreement. Just because an NFL team might like to buy a player doesn't mean the CFL team has to sell unless the price is just too good to turn down. The problem I can foresee is that due to the salary disparity between the two leagues it could not be a reciprocating arrangement.