This week’s Insider Talk is full of discussion about CFL revenue sharing, upcoming player retirements, and the Saskatchewan Roughriders’ quarterback situation.
Insider Talk includes anonymous quotes from people around the CFL — players, coaches, personnel experts, and agents — regarding the latest news around the league. It’s a combination of insight, analysis, rumours, and friendly gossip.
Enjoy this week’s quotes and come back next Wednesday for another edition of Insider Talk.
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The CFL is going to revisit the possibility of revenue sharing in the near future. It’s going to be tough to get everyone to agree to how exactly it would look, but if they figure it out it’ll help bring some stability to the league as a whole.
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The Riders and Bombers are smart to be planning some type of scrimmage. Neither team has anybody proven behind their starting quarterbacks. You need to take any opportunity you can get to challenge your young guys to step up and perform.
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Every team could have a handful of guys that decide not to play (in 2021). I’m not afraid of losing Americans since there are so many available. I just hope we don’t lose too many Canadians.
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Saskatchewan is high on (young quarterback) Mason Fine. He throws well on the run. He’s actually a lot like [Cody] Fajardo, only smaller. He just needs to be a little more consistent with his accuracy.
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There are some teams who feel MLSE is too loud behind the scenes, but look at what they’ve done. They built Toronto FC from nothing and have taken the Raptors and Maple Leafs to new heights. I know the CFL is an old school league but they need to be more open to new ideas.
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We should have a ratio on coaches and personnel people just like we do for players. If we care about developing Canadian players, shouldn’t we care about developing Canadian coaches, too?
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If I had to guess how many retirements we’ll see (league-wide) before the start of training camp, I’d probably say somewhere between 30 and 40.
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The Riders cut Blair Smith, but he was going to report (for the 2021 season). He’s retired.
Editor’s note: a previous version of this article included a quote stating that Mathieu Breton was planning to retire. This was not accurate as he is currently seeking a new contract for 2021.
