Jamie Nye: CFL negotiating window was a win for league and fans

The CFL’s new negotiating window has closed ahead of Tuesday’s free-agent deadline.

And I’m willing to call it a resounding success — not for yielding a bunch of accepted offers but for generating some noise. Usually the week heading into free agency is rumour and speculation.

This year, we’ve seen the Willie Jefferson tour. He was spotted courtside at a Toronto Raptors game as the Argonauts and MLSE try to impress him. Tiger-Cats jerseys were hung in the Hamilton locker room with Jefferson’s name on them, as his daughter stood on the logo in the middle of the room.

We have other big names speaking to teams here and there, and they can. It’s no longer a dirty little secret, but the tampering is now allowed a week out from the free-agent window.

The CFL needs more instances where it’s making some waves in the off-season and keeping the league and its stars in the headlines.

This new negotiating window has done just that.

Now we get to have a running start into what is set to be a crazy free-agent Tuesday.