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Ryan Dinwiddie hopes to play in his first CFL exhibition as head coach on Friday night.
The Toronto Argonauts are scheduled for the Ottawa Red and Black on Friday night in one of two games to kick off the CFL’s exhibition campaign. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Champions of the Grey Cup, will host the Edmonton Elks in the other.
Dinwiddie is entering his current season as Toronto’s head coach. After betting on 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year the CFL conducted an abbreviated 14-game crusade that came with an exhibition contest.
Toronto finished atop the East Division with a 9-5 record in 2021 before 27-19 against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the convention finals.
However, there is an exhibition contest that will not be played.
The CFL and the CFL Players Association continued discussions Thursday on a new collective bargaining agreement. On Tuesday, Commissioner Randy Ambrosie released the league’s latest offer and said it would only be valid until Thursday Eastern Time.
“That (the uncertainty of running in the CFL) doesn’t come into play,” Dinwiddie told reporters at a video convention on Thursday. “We plan to pass and so do the players.
“I think it’s going to get better. I’m not sure it is, but I think it will be. “
On Monday, CFLPA members rejected a seven-year interim agreement between the league and the union. At the center of the players’ fear, the agreement for Canadian starters to be upgraded from seven to eight, adding a nationalized Canadian, an American who spent 4 years in the CFL or at least 3 with the same team. In addition, 3 other nationalized Canadians can play up to 49% of all snapshots on either side of the ball.
The next day, Ambrosie said the league had submitted a final amended proposal that would remain on the table until Thursday ET. He added that the new contract included a $1 million signing bonus for players (which was not included in the initial offer). and reduced the number of naturalized Canadians to one and reduced the number of Canadian holders to six.
This was the moment when Ambrosie made public a final contract that he would offer to the CFLPA. On May 14, he posted a letter to enthusiasts on the league’s online page detailing the league’s proposal to players hours before the old CBA expired.
The next day, players from seven of cfL’s nine groups went on strike and did not show up for the education camp. The Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders camped out on time because those players were not in a legal strike position, according to provincial labor law. in the moment.
Four days later, the CFL and CFLPA reached an agreement in principle that ended the stoppage of cadres in the history of the league and the first since 1974.
This agreement included increases in the CFL’s salary cap ($100,000 consistent with the year starting next year) and the minimum wage (from $65,000 to $75,000 through 2027). It also included a revenue-sharing formula for the union and gave players the option to have the last year of their contracts guaranteed up to 50%.
The proposal included a revenue-sharing style and called for a return to padded practices: an hour consistent with the normal season week with a maximum of 12. But it also extended medical policy for retired players from three to five years.
However, it also contained the proportion provision and was eventually rejected by the players despite a ratification council through their negotiating committee.
If Friday night’s exhibition game goes as planned, Dinwiddie said his plan is to use a majority of young players opposed to Ottawa.
“We have tough decisions there,” he said. The first game is never really the game of veterans, you need them to play the game of the moment.
“There will be other types of coverage, it’s a little more seasonal, while the first preseason game is more conventional. “
Still, veteran starter McLeod Bethel-Thompson will be among the 4 quarters Dinwiddie will wear for the game. It remains to be seen if he will play.
“I’ll bring it but let’s see,” Dinwiddie said.
Dinwiddie said that while exhibition matches are an opportunity to compare players, he also needs to win competitions.
“You have to pass out and win each and every time you jump onto the football field,” he said. “We have to evaluate at the same time, we perceive that . . . but at the same time we have to investigate to find a way to win the football game. “
This report through The Canadian Press was first published on May 26, 2022.
Dan Ralph, the Canadian press
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