https://www.tsn.ca/naylor-many-questions-but-few-answers-on-a-2021-cfl-season-1.1543725

The Canadian Football League has been outrageously quiet since it pulled the plug on its season more than two months ago, leaving behind a wake of speculation about where things are headed next.

With the reality setting in that COVID-19 is likely to still be around in some form next summer, there is real concern about what the 2021 season might look like or if it will occur at all.

There are teams that believe it is vitally important to play in 2021 and that without a season the CFL is in danger of being mothballed. Whether every team believes that is another question. And there is a lot to sort out before anyone can accurately predict what a season might look like and how much pain the teams are collectively willing to stomach to make it happen.

The league and its franchises are currently running through various scenarios for next season, trying to get a handle on true costs of each and working at ways to trim budgets and save money. That’s likely to continue until the league can truly choose a course of action, which feels like next April at the earliest.

Why? Well, there’s not much point in fully committing to a scenario that’s seven months away if that scenario might be totally unrealistic by the time you get there.

There has been no 2021 business plan presented yet, only regular updates to the presidents and governors about what the league is doing to prepare for the unknown.

It should be noted that teams will need to make decisions about retaining assistant coaches with expiring contracts by December, which will be the first real economic commitments to a 2021 season. Restrictions on signing players will need to be lifted well before the opening of February free agency, where players are likely to meet a cautious market – one in which signing bonuses will probably be absent.

There’s a collective bargaining agreement to amend, if not renegotiate, with the players, which will require some kind of pressure point because it always does. But the league can’t sit down with the players until it gets a true handle on revenues and it can’t do that until it chooses a course of action.

Will CFL teams be allowed to have full stadiums next summer? It doesn't seem likely. But just what percentage of capacity will be allowed – if any at all – is impossible to guess. It seems as if the league is counting on the restrictions that currently prevent fans from being in stadiums being lifted. But to what degree?

When will we see a schedule? Good question. Or could we see multiple schedules for different scenarios? Never say never.

Could it be a 21-week, 18-game season played in home stadiums? Unlikely, given the losses teams are expected to take with reduced numbers of fans in the stands. Could we see a return to the 10-week bubble? Maybe. A nine-game schedule played in home stadiums before fans? Perhaps.

The point is no one knows, so demanding answers to questions that can’t possibly be answered right now is a waste of time.

All we know is that there’s going to be a lot less revenue for teams to operate with under any scenario, not just because of crowd restrictions but also due to older fans choosing to stay home for their safety. The CFL’s fan demographics do it no favours in this regard.

Getting consensus on a best course of action won’t be easy for the CFL’s nine teams. Back in the summer, there were teams that were willing to play without government support and teams that weren’t. And just like then, the biggest challenge commissioner Randy Ambrosie faces now is finding a scenario they can all live with.

Adopting a revenue-sharing model so that each team absorbs the same amount of red ink would certainly make consensus-building easier, which many believe should be the direction for the future, COVID-19 or not.

The other elephant in the room is federal government, which many in the CFL believe left it high and dry last summer after months of back-and-forth talks where the league believed it was making progress.

Is the CFL prepared to go down that road again, knowing it doesn’t control the timeline and larger forces can change things in an instant? Perhaps, although it’s not as though the feds don’t have a long list of people coming at them with their hands out.

There will be voices demanding the owners suck up the losses of playing a season under any circumstance, as owners have done in other sports. But the business calculation in sports such as MLB, NFL, NHL and NBA is different because of the percentage of revenues those leagues derive from television.

Losses sustained by playing in those leagues can also be viewed as investments towards protecting massive franchise values. That’s not the case in the CFL, where teams can’t just float money on the backs of their franchise values, and where one third of the teams are publicly owned.

It would be beneficial for the league to soon announce its formal commitment to play some kind of season in 2021.

But beyond that, get ready for months more of waiting with lots of questions and speculation but very few answers.

Just now, Noeller said:

I wouldn't say no to Devonte Dedmon and they've got one DB that's not bad (blanking right now...) but other than that.............

I thought this was the crapping all over arrogant  Desjardins thread? After those expansion draft comments this whole situation looks great on him.

1 minute ago, Wideleft said:

Football smart, I guess. 

Otherwise?

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/577052-tom-glavine-doug-flutie-to-join-trump-for-herschel-walker-event

oh by the way that star blanket version of the W logo is pretty. 

1 minute ago, 17to85 said:

There isn't a single player on Ottawa worth taking.

I'd probably look at their little place kicker.........but now we have the Spanish Conquistador coming in....we don't have a need

9 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

I thought this was the crapping all over arrogant  Desjardins thread? After those expansion draft comments this whole situation looks great on him.

To be fair, the Bombers pickings were very very slim when Ottawa rejoined.

3 hours ago, TBURGESS said:

No coach can win when they have to start 5 or is it 6 different starting QB's. I'd give PLAP another year to sort things out.

Agreed, but I do not think that will save his butt after next year. Whatever it takes to be a successful HC, he ain't got it.

7 hours ago, wbbfan said:

I dont think mac leaves. The schedule and flexibility is most important to him from what I understand. Goveia though, yeah I think thats pretty likely. Unless for some reason they give plop the GM title too lol. 

 

Didn’t Goveia decline the Als GM position last season? Tough to imagine someone turning down Montreal only to take on the mess in Ottawa. 

 I suspect he may be in the running for the far more desirable Lk’s position after Sunderland gets heaved. He will also get to pick his own HC because Elizondo ain’t gonna last either. 

Edited October 25, 20214 yr by Pete Catan's Ghost

Memories are made of this:

https://www.cfl.ca/2021/10/25/bombers-dominate-timber-mart-plays-of-the-week/

 

1 hour ago, Wideleft said:

Football smart, I guess. 

Otherwise?

https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/577052-tom-glavine-doug-flutie-to-join-trump-for-herschel-walker-event

Good lord I don’t particularly like or respect Donald Trump but it’s crazy how obsessed people are with him and always bringing him into conversation. As John Stewart said on CNN time to let him go he’s living rent free. 

7 minutes ago, Fred C Dobbs said:

Memories are made of this:

https://www.cfl.ca/2021/10/25/bombers-dominate-timber-mart-plays-of-the-week/

 

4 out of 5 are Bombers plays. 

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

There isn't a single player on Ottawa worth taking.

I'd take Avery in a heartbeat, 

1 hour ago, Pete Catan's Ghost said:

Didn’t Goveia decline the Als GM position last season? Tough to imagine someone turning down Montreal only to take on the mess in Ottawa. 

 I suspect he may be in the running for the far more desirable Lk’s position after Sunderland gets heaved. He will also get to pick his own HC because Elizondo ain’t gonna last either. 

I believe thats the case yes, and I dont blame him for declining that option. They were a potential 1 hit wonder with unstable ownership at that point. If I was him I wouldnt take that job either. Ottawa is worse, but at the same time its low expectations. He'd get a chance to build his own team, and coaching staff, and get a good amount of time to make it work. 

Honestly Id take the RBs over the elks job. The RBs suck out loud. But atleast it isnt a toxic cesspool in the middle of antivaxx outbreak land. 

19 minutes ago, Booch said:

I'd take Avery in a heartbeat, 

Taryn christion is a guy worth developing. They have a couple guys on D worth a look, Obviously leone and ward are valuable. Mulumba is a decent teams depth / developmental NI. Auclair is even better. Delance looks like he belongs in the league. Id take petey back in a heart beat. Behar, coombs, davis, and harris Id take in a heart beat. Coombs and behar would back up woli in a n instant. Id take davis and harris over darvin at this point. Devonte dedmon? Yep, id take him too. 

Id take more guys from ottawa than from the riders right now tbh. Of course some of those guys might not fit FIFO, but I cant really speak to that on either end. And any wr that plays for this bomber team has to be willing to give 100% to their blocking. 

Edited October 25, 20214 yr by wbbfan

2 hours ago, 17to85 said:

There isn't a single player on Ottawa worth taking.

I'll take Peterman back. 

1 minute ago, M.O.A.B. said:

I'll take Peterman back. 

Hes on the PR too. But I think he wants to play out east and be close to his family.

3 hours ago, 17to85 said:

There isn't a single player on Ottawa worth taking.

Some are not getting the reference 

4 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

Some are not getting the reference 

It's been a few years since MD said it.....in people's defense.......Dave always going for the deep cuts. 

32 minutes ago, Geebrr said:

Some are not getting the reference 

2 hours ago, Fred C Dobbs said:

Memories are made of this:

https://www.cfl.ca/2021/10/25/bombers-dominate-timber-mart-plays-of-the-week/

 

I like that Brandon Alexander force on Reilly that caused him to throw up the ball for the Jefferson INT.  The BC running back doesn't even try to block Alexander because he doesn't even see him, he's into the backfield so fast.  That's a play you don't see very often.

37 minutes ago, kelownabomberfan said:

I like that Brandon Alexander force on Reilly that caused him to throw up the ball for the Jefferson INT.  The BC running back doesn't even try to block Alexander because he doesn't even see him, he's into the backfield so fast.  That's a play you don't see very often.

BA's had a number of those this season.... he's so good at timing the snap.

There was one where he forced a fumble getting to the QB before he was able to finish handing off the ball in a shotgun-handoff.

2 hours ago, Arnold_Palmer said:

time to let him go he’s living rent free. 

because he never pays his bills

4 hours ago, Geebrr said:

Some are not getting the reference 

And some others are mistakenly equating  “not getting the reference” with “not thinking the reference is particularly clever or at all accurate”. 😉

Edited October 26, 20214 yr by TrueBlue4ever

11 hours ago, Wideleft said:

To be fair, the Bombers pickings were very very slim when Ottawa rejoined.

Yeah but a CFL GM doesn't say that kind of thing publicly. They don't diss another struggling team. He was feeling cocky & arrogant. Karma took a few years but it finally got him. 

https://3downnation.com/2021/10/26/toronto-argos-trade-quarterback-nick-arbuckle-to-edmonton-elks/

Arbuckle to Edmonton via Dave Naylor.  Not done yet tho 

1 minute ago, Goalie said:

Arbuckle to Edmonton via Dave Naylor.  Not done yet tho 

Just in time for the Riders to play them twice. Arby won’t save their season but he could make it difficult for some teams as they jockey into those final positions. 

17 hours ago, Pete Catan's Ghost said:

Didn’t Goveia decline the Als GM position last season? Tough to imagine someone turning down Montreal only to take on the mess in Ottawa. 

 I suspect he may be in the running for the far more desirable Lk’s position after Sunderland gets heaved. He will also get to pick his own HC because Elizondo ain’t gonna last either. 

Pretty sure it was Rigmaiden who declined the Als and honestly I would think McManus might get a shot before Goveia.

14 hours ago, BomberfanMKS said:

BA's had a number of those this season.... he's so good at timing the snap.

There was one where he forced a fumble getting to the QB before he was able to finish handing off the ball in a shotgun-handoff.

Richie Hall ran this same blitz. sometimes with the safety,  regularly when he was DC in Saskatchewan.

Edited October 26, 20214 yr by GCn20