Murray Wood: Who's hot and who's not
Every Friday, Murray Wood takes a look at the big news stories and decides who's hot... and who's not. This week's list ...
The CFL is getting too self-righteous.
Commissioner Randy Ambrosie issued a statement saying teams and players must honour their signed contracts. This is part of the brouhaha started by Toronto Argonauts Victor Butler and James Wilder, who are upset their team won’t let them out of their contracts to pursue NFL opportunities.
Meanwhile, the B.C. Lions waived linebacker Micah Awe even though he had another two years remaining on his contract. Awe immediately signed with the New York Jets. Awe had apparently received a guarantee from the Lions that he would be released from his deal early if he received an NFL offer.
Such side deals are against CFL rules, Ambrosie reiterated.
Meanwhile, CFL teams routinely dump players hours before paying contract bonuses — Saskatchewan did that with running back Kienan Lafrance and Montreal did that with quarterback Darian Durant. Ambrosie’s correct because a deal is a deal, but those moves don’t nurture goodwill between the teams and the players.
