CFL players have big decision ahead of them as CBA deadline looms

The future of the 2022 CFL season remains foggy heading towards Thursday’s league-imposed deadline.

After the players rejected a proposed collective bargaining agreement that had tentatively been agreed to by the CFL Players’ Association and the league, the status of this weekend’s pre-season games is unclear.

The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ CFLPA rep, kicker Brett Lauther, said a players’ association meeting was going to take place Wednesday night to discuss the latest offer from the CFL.

“(That meeting will be) probably not ideal,” Lauther said after a training-camp workout in Saskatoon. “Some of the other meetings I’ve got to sit in on before — which there haven’t been many — it’s always pretty hostile, a lot of caucusing in and out and this and that. Things just need to start getting done sooner.”

Scenario brewing that would be very bad for an on-time start to the @2022 @CFL season: If the @CFLPA leadership decides they won’t put league’s proposal to a vote of because it reduces 7 Canadian starters to 6, and if league won’t move off 6…well, we can all go home.#CFL #CFLPA

— Dave Naylor (@TSNDaveNaylor) May 25, 2022

Reports say the CFL has come forward with a final offer and if the players don’t accept it by Thursday night, the league will shut down training camps and will no longer pay for players’ room and board to keep them in their markets.

“I was wrong before (about the vote) so it’s hard for me to have an opinion,” said Lauther, referring to the ratification vote Monday that shot down the proposed deal.

“I thought the last one, just from what I heard, it was going to be a yes. This time around, it’s going to come down to if guys want to miss game cheques and go home and potentially just move on from football. It’s a little bit of a bigger decision the closer we get (to pre-season).”

There are two exhibition games set for Friday. The Roughriders’ pre-season game against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, which originally was to be held this past Monday, was rescheduled to next Tuesday.

One of the main sticking points in negotiations has been the Canadian ratio, with the CFL’s recent offer reducing the number of starting Canadians by one.

“(As a kicker) I don’t get to count as a Canadian,” Lauther said. “Guys in the locker room or guys across the league are still a little upset and wondering why we are changing it, but you’ve got to compromise, I guess.

“We’re not getting everything we want and they aren’t getting everything they want.”

Lauther said in markets in Saskatchewan and Winnipeg, the Canadian players are often the ones who stay back and interact with the community. But he acknowledged not every market is the same.

While the CFL is referring to this recent offer as its final one, Lauther said the players have heard that before.

“I think it’s like the fifth time it has been a final offer from their side,” Lauther said. “Whether it is or it isn’t, I don’t think it changes guys’ opinions. I’m just keeping guys informed so they can make the best decision they can make.”