Canadian Football League players ratify collective bargaining agreement; 2022 season full speed ahead

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In typical Canadian Football League fashion, a dangerous off-field battle of wills went right down to the wire on Thursday, but nervous fans can exhale as the 2022 season is a go.

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That’s pending ratification from the CFL’s Board of Governors, which is expected.

Bargaining committees for the league and the CFL Players Association came to terms Thursday afternoon on a tentative seven-year collective bargaining agreement. In a vote of the larger membership, excluding rookies, that deal was ratified and an announcement was made by the PA just prior to 10 p.m. ET, two hours before the league’s deadline for acceptance.

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That means there will be a full slate of pre-season games beginning with two on Friday; a complete 18-game regular season; playoffs and a Grey Cup in picturesque Regina, Sask. in late November. It will be the first full CFL slate since 2019, as the 2020 campaign was wiped out by COVID-19 and the 2021 season was shortened to 14 games, again because of pandemic restrictions and concerns.

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The CBA that was hammered out on Thursday provides for a $1.225 million ratification bonus to be shared by the nine teams and for one nationalized American to play as an eighth starting Canadian in 2022. In 2023 there can be two nationalized Americans who play up to 49 per cent of snaps in place of one of the Canadian starters. And the CFL has the option to make it three in 2024.

As an attempt to encourage teams to keep playing home-grown talent despite that allowance, the two teams with the most snaps taken by Canadian players each season will be afforded an extra second-round pick in the CFL draft.

It is a creative solution to an issue that doomed the first tentative agreement. A large majority of the CFLPA membership voted against that previous deal because it immediately allowed three nationalized American players to take up to 49 per cent of snaps for a Canadian starter.

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The overwhelming rejection had positioned the two sides in a dangerous standoff, with a lengthy strike looming. However, the CFL on Tuesday submitted a modified proposal that called for one nationalized American to sub in for one of the seven existing Canadian starters. The league also offered a $1 million ratification bonus, though it was not new money. Instead, they moved it away from the back end of the revenue sharing agreement that was already in place in the original tentative CBA.

Regardless, the moves were made to pacify some of the players who were opposed to the first tentative agreement, and the league’s willingness to continue engaging on the two contentious issues again on Wednesday and Thursday provided the necessary wiggle room for another tentative agreement.

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The deal also includes:

The first revenue sharing agreement between the two sides that includes all revenues in the formula, including those from Grey Cup.

A bump in long-term medical coverage from three to four years in 2022 and five years in 2023 and for the remainder of the deal.

The CFLPA can reopen the CBA after five years, once the TSN broadcast deal expires. The term expires 30 days prior to the opening of training camp, rather than on the eve of camp.

A veteran who has played out the term of his first contract and re-signs with that same club can be guaranteed up to 50 per cent of his base salary in the final year of his next deal, be it a two-, three- or four-year contract.

A year of service in the NFL counts as a year on the grid, so a player who does three years in the NFL can come back to the CFL as a free agent and negotiate a deal as such. If a player does two years down south, he lives under the terms of the rookie cap for a season.

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Global players will receive a raise to the league minimum, which is $65,000 this year, $70,000 next year and rises to $75,000 through the term of the deal.

The grievance and arbitration system has changed to allow the CFLPA to speak directly to team GMs and/or presidents to try to resolve issues, rather than first having to go through the league office. Arbitrators have also been added to the roster.

The league and CFLPA also agreed on the terms of a COVID travel policy, the return of the NFL window, a player housing allowance tied to the average of national rents, mental health and addiction programming, a player and fan code of conduct, administrative language regarding work permits, and national certification of all equipment and medical personnel who interact with players.

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