Is Jovon Johnson southward bound?

The CFL's reigning defensive player of the year may not be returning to the league next season. Reputable reports from Sportsnet's Arash Madani and The Winnipeg Sun's Kirk Penton indicate that Winnipeg defensive back/punt returner Jovon Johnson, who lifted the league's top defensive award during Grey Cup week, has an option-year window in his contract and has already scheduled at least one NFL workout. If he's able to catch on with a NFL team, Johnson would be following in a long line of CFL players who have tried to take their talents south of the border—with mixed results. Regardless of how he does in the NFL, though, his departure would make returning to the Grey Cup much more difficult for the Blue Bombers.

The CFL to NFL migration is an annual event during the offseason, generally with 10 or more players trying their luck in four-down football. However, most haven't found a large deal of success, and many wind up coming back to the CFL midyear: for examples from last year, see Saskatchewan's Andy Fantuz (short NFL stint with Chicago) and Edmonton's Mark Restelli (short stint with Miami). That doesn't mean some haven't gone on to great things south of the border; 2007 and 2008 CFL defensive player of the year Cameron Wake has turned into one of the NFL's top pass-rushers, former B.C. Lions' star running back/kick returner Stefan Logan has found success in that latter role with Detroit, former Saskatchewan defensive end John Chick was having a solid season with Jacksonville this year until he suffered a year-ending injury and former Calgary defensive back Brandon Browner has his star on the rise in Seattle. The odds are tough for CFL players like Johnson, though, and they're now even steeper thanks to new regulations on both sides of the border.

The NFL's new CBA, signed earlier this year, carried a surprising provision that may diminish the southward flow of talent. Essentially, the league has ruled that CFL players count as undrafted free agents for purposes of signing bonuses, and it has capped the amount of money each team can give all undrafted free agents in bonuses at $75,000. Now, that doesn't mean that NFL teams can't still find ways to make lucrative offers to CFL players, but it does mean that those offers will have to revolve around base salary rather than bonuses—and unlike bonuses, which players get immediately, base salary is not guaranteed.

Thus, CFL players could wind up signing deals that sound great, only to get cut early in the year and make just a fraction of what they expected. Bonuses were a key way to lure CFL players (and also a good indication for those players that teams were seriously interested in them, not just regarding them as camp bodies); with them out of the picture, it gets tougher for NFL teams to recruit north of the border. The CFL also took out its option-year window in its last CBA; players like Johnson (seen at right breaking up a pass for Arland Bruce during this year's Grey Cup game) were grandfathered in, but going forward, only outright free agents will be able to test the NFL waters. We probably won't see the pipeline dry up completely, but the flow may be reduced.

As per Johnson himself, it's going to be notable to see just how much attention he gets south of the border. He's obviously an excellent CFL player, and he led the league with eight interceptions this season while becoming the first defensive back to ever be named top defensive player. His size may be an issue in the NFL, though; he's listed at just 5'9'' and 182 pounds, and while some similarly-sized NFL cornerbacks do quite well (Kansas City's Brandon Flowers leads the league in passes defensed this season, and he's just 5'9'' and 187 pounds), most guys at that position in the NFL tend to be bigger.

Johnson can also return punts and kicks, of course, and many returners tend to be smaller (like the 5'6'' Logan). Still, Johnson was only solid as a returner in the CFL, not dominant. We'll see just how much interest he draws from the NFL. If he does try to make the jump, though, regardless of how it works out for him, losing the league's defensive MVP doesn't bode well for Winnipeg's chances of getting back to the Grey Cup.