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What happened with Chris Ackie's holdout? How will increased rookie deals work?

What happened with Chris Ackie's holdout? How will increased rookie deals work?

Monday saw some surprising CFL news, as Montreal Alouettes' first-round draft pick Chris Ackie finally agreed to a contract with the team (as predicted earlier inWe  the day by Herb Zurkowsky). Ackie, a star CIS defensive back for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks, was the last first-round pick (other than Toronto pick Sean McEwen, who'd told teams in advance he was returning to school) to sign. After he didn't appear at rookie camp and Zurkowsky reported the sides were at a contract impasse, with the Alouettes' offer to him allegedly decreasing daily, it seemed likely Ackie might choose to sit out the year and finish his final university season with the Golden Hawks. Ackie's decision to sign a three-year deal with Montreal (reportedly a $100,000 total deal, including a $21,000 signing bonus) raises questions about which side cracked, though, and the reporting Zurkowsky's done on other top draft picks and their contracts illustrates how much things are changing for top CFL rookies.

It used to be that most CFL rookies weren't given much over the minimum salary (which will be $51,000 this year) regardless of their draft position, but despite that, there weren't many holdouts or contract disputes. Some of the few that did happen, such as Henoc Muamba's holdout in 2011, were about particular contract terms such as the old NFL option year, but even that holdout was brief. Now, we did see players Kirby Fabien, Carson Rockhill, Arnaud Gascon-Nadon, and Frederic Plesius opt to return to CIS in 2012 rather than reporting to the CFL, but that hasn't really been a big factor since that year. (It's notable that Muamba and Plesius were both represented by U.S. agent Johnathan Hardaway at that time; Hardaway now represents Ackie.) There was a threat that would happen with Brett Jones in 2013, which led to his slide in the draft, but that was about his desire to go to med school, and Jones wound up reporting to camp anyway. Thus, Ackie's holdout (which didn't even last that long) has been the first substantial one in a while.

What's particularly interesting is that the stakes for rookies have significantly changed, though. Zurkowsky talked with prominent CFL agent Darren Gill this week, who said salaries for top draft picks have shot up this year, a reflection of a salary cap that's now at $5,050,000 per team. Yes, the cap rose from $4.4 million to $5 million last year, but that cap number was only agreed on when CBA negotiations wrapped up during the preseason, long after most rookies had already signed. Thus, this year is the first year where we're really seeing the new cap's effects on rookies. As Gill said, it's been a substantial change, especially for offensive linemen:

“Everyone’s salary has gone up. The guys really making the most money coming out of the draft are the offensive linemen,” said Montreal agent Darren Gill. “I don’t want to call them crazy. These deals are in line with the new salary cap.”

Gill represents Ottawa centre Alex Mateas and Winnipeg offensive lineman Sukh Chungh, the top two draft choices, respectively, along with McEwen. Gill was able to get the deals for Mateas and Chungh done quickly. Both will earn base salaries of about $80,000, but with playing time, could see their pay hit $100,000.

“People are asking when does the spending stop? I think relatively soon,” Gill said. “Some of these rookie deals look like balloon deals, because everyone’s saying we can’t sustain these rookie deals.”

Defensive lineman Ese Mrabure-Ajufo, who went fifth overall to British Columbia — one spot after Ackie — will earn $89,000 this season. That included an $18,000 signing bonus. But guard Danny Groulx, the seventh overall pick whose signing was announced Thursday by Edmonton, will be paid a base of $75,000 along with a $20,000 signing bonus. It’s believed that bonus is one of the top three in CFL history paid to a rookie.

It’s also believed offensive-tackle Karl Lavoie, whose signing was announced Thursday by Calgary, will earn more than Saskatchewan receiver Nic Demski — although Lavoie went ninth overall, three sports behind Demski. But Lavoie, who played at Université Laval, like Groulx, is an offensive lineman. Thus the disparity.

It's remarkable to see teams paying out so much money to rookies, as the players generally have very little leverage in that situation. Unlike the NFL, which has gone to relatively set payment amounts for each pick, CFL teams can pay rookies whatever they want. Given that rookies are forced to play with the team that drafts them if they want to play in the CFL, it's a little surprising that teams are paying out more than they specifically have to. Now, rookies could always hold out, but they don't have many options there; most CIS players could return to that league for a final year, but getting paid nothing to play isn't always that enticing, and there aren't many alternative pro options out there.

The leverage that players do have is when it comes to the length of their contract, though. Unlike veteran CFL players, who can now sign one-year deals, rookies' minimum contract length is two years (or one year with a team option). However, many (including Ackie) have instead chosen to sign three-year deals. That may explain why teams have been willing to pony up, figuring that it may be worth paying a bit more to get a rookie player into camp quickly this way, keep him happy and keep him under team control for at least three years rather than fighting a long battle to have a disaffected player for two years.

The playing-time bonuses, like those given to Mateas and Chung, appear to be a win-win for the players and the team. For players, including those in a contract is essentially a bet on themselves. If they're good enough to earn regular playing time, they'll make significantly more money. Now, some sports teams have been known to manipulate players' major-league playing time to avoid paying them more money or having them under control for less time (particularly when it comes to Major League Baseball and its "service time clock"), but that's not likely to happen in the CFL. Immediate on-field success is crucial for this league's teams, and the amounts of money involved are substantial for the players, but not so for the teams. ($100,000 versus $80,000 is a full 25 per cent more money for players, but $20,000 is a mere 0.039 per cent of a team's salary cap). Thus, this looks like a good way to incentivize players to perform (and to sign contracts in the first place) without particularly hurting a team.

The really interesting question in the Ackie case is about which side cracked. Did Ackie decide that even a diminished offer (if Popp's comments that the offer to him was decreasing daily are accurate) was preferable to returning to CIS and not getting paid this year (but potentially keeping NFL options open)? Does the substantial signing bonus indicate he wanted more money up front than paid over the course of the year, and did Montreal finally agree to that? Or were Popp's comments about the decreasing offer merely a negotiating tactic, and did the Alouettes agree to step up and pay Ackie what he wanted (or close to it)? It seems that's likely, as this deal looks like more than what would have been expected for the fourth-overall pick. If Ackie cracked and Popp's comments were accurate, this holdout will have been counterproductive, causing him to miss valuable camp time and lose money; however, if Popp elected to pay Ackie more than his initial offer, the holdout may have been worth it. Without knowledge of the contract's terms, it's hard to tell. Ackie's in the fold now, though, and Montreal fans should be happy with that. We just don't know for now if he's been able to take advantage of this wave of money flowing to rookies or not.