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Duane Forde discusses expansion draft loopholes that may make things tough for Ottawa
The Ottawa Redblacks appear to have the pieces in place for the Dec. 16 expansion draft with this week's reported hiring of Rick Campbell as head coach. Campbell should be able to work with the existing front-office team of GM Marcel Desjardins, AGM Brock Sunderland, Canadian scout Miles Gorrell and US pro/college scout Jeremy Snyder to craft a roster strategy ahead of the draft, and the expansion draft is set up in a way that should let them get plenty of solid players. However, the Redblacks' options may be reduced thanks to the way existing teams have handled free agency this year; there are tons of pending free agents out there, likely thanks to teams wanting to wait to register contracts until after the expansion draft. TSN's Duane Forde has been discussing that strategy and other potential loopholes in the draft with CFL fans on Twitter this week, and he's had some interesting things to say. Here are some of the questions he's been fielding and some of his tweets on the matter:
Don't waste time memorizing the #CFL's list of potential free agents. Some of those players will "miraculously" re-sign on December 17.
— Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
@DuaneFordeTSN do you think some GMs planned to have lots of FA this year because of the expansion draft? #strategy — David Koop (@davidkoop) November 28, 2013
@davidkoop @DuaneFordeTSN Hmmm would be smart& totally legit way to protect those you want w/out using a big P sticker on name at draft time — Heather Hand (@prairielilyH) November 28, 2013
.@prairielilyH It's both "smart" & "legit"...but also a foreseeable loophole that existing teams refused to close in the draft agreement. — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
@DuaneFordeTSN with some teams having many potential FA's would that not be an advantage going in to the draft. Ottawa cannot grab them. — Ty Riel (@tyriel62) November 28, 2013
1/2 Kind of @tyriel62. OTT can draft pending FAs to gain exclusive negotiating rights 'til Feb.15 but in most cases are unlikely to risk it. — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
2/2 @tyriel62 The risk is twofold. 1. FAs may sign elsewhere after Feb.15; 2. FAs may already have signed undated deals w. their old team. — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
@DuaneFordeTSN What percentage of players do you think are actually attached enough to their teams to not test the FA market? — Bryan Parker (@Bryan_Parker_) November 28, 2013
1/2 @Bryan_Parker_ With the CBA expiring some people believe more players will test FA market anticipating that the cap will rise but I... — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
2/2 @Bryan_Parker_ ...don't see it as the new CBA likely won't be ratified in time. If guys have roots in current cities they'll try to stay — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
@DuaneFordeTSN you can sign an undated deal? Could a player be drafted by the RedBlacks and be back with the original team next day? — David Koop (@davidkoop) November 28, 2013
.@davidkoop If a pending FA has an undated deal, it could be filed after Dec.16 if he's not picked by OTT, or Feb.15 if he is picked by OTT. — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
.@davidkoop The best way to answer that is to say that, "It's only illegal if you get caught"...and this would be tough to prove. — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
@DuaneFordeTSN fascinating. Do you think the RedBlacks are going to avoid drafting pending FA's as mentioned or is that a smokescreen? — David Koop (@davidkoop) November 28, 2013
.@davidkoop I can only answer that by saying that, personally, I wouldn't draft a pending FA w/out first chatting OTR w. his agent. — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
@DuaneFordeTSN so if a team is going to resign a player most likely it will be after the draft — Ty Riel (@tyriel62) November 28, 2013
.@tyriel62 Absolutely...but, in many cases, they'll want it done by Dec.31, so that signing bonuses can be applied to the 2013 salary cap. — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) November 28, 2013
Don't rule out the possibility of teams signing players to deals that make them "unattractive" to Ottawa & then "renegotiating" on Dec.17. — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) December 5, 2013
When the exp. draft agreement was negotiated, all these loopholes were pointed out but the "vote" was 8-1 against closing them. #Iwonderwhy — Duane Forde (@DuaneFordeTSN) December 5, 2013
A lot of that's been covered in the initial look at pending free agents I took back at the start of November, but it's still interesting to see some of the details Forde mentions here. The salary cap implications of signing a deal in 2013 rather than 2014 are particularly notable, as is the report that these loopholes were mentioned, but kept in by an 8-1 vote (with Ottawa presumably the lone voice of dissent). It's understandable that the current teams don't want to be hurt too much by the expansion draft, but they have to keep the health of the league in mind as well. Things have to work in Ottawa this time, and giving the expansion franchise a chance to have a decent team right away is crucial towards that effort. The draft rules are promising on that front, but the loopholes are less so.
It all leads to a massive challenge for Desjardins, Campbell and the rest of the Redblacks' management team, and an intriguing question. Do they risk drafting high-upside pending free agents with the belief that they can do enough of a sales job to convince them to actually come to Ottawa (and perhaps dump previous unsigned or undated agreements with their team), or do they play it safe and only take players under contract? That's a tough one to answer, as each approach carries massive potential pitfalls. It will be fascinating to see what Desjardins and his team do on December 16.
