It seems safe to say that Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ head coach Mike O’Shea isn’t a fan of the CFL’s operations cap.
“Nobody likes it from a coaching standpoint, but our staff would say we’re suffering the most in that regard,” O’Shea recently told the media in Winnipeg. “I brought it up last year, too. Nothing really gets done.”
The league implemented a non-football spending cap following the 2018 season designed to limit and equalize spending across all nine teams. It has since been the subject of criticism as some have argued it inhibits teams from hiring and developing quality coaches and personnel people.
The cap not only limits how much teams can spend but also how many people they can employ, capping clubs at 11 coaches and 14 other football operations staff. Those subject to the cap are coaches, general managers, scouts, equipment staff, and video personnel. Team doctors and athletic therapists are not included.
For teams like the Blue Bombers, who have been to four consecutive Grey Cups, it makes it challenging for assistant coaches and other staff members to receive raises they’ve earned. Winnipeg can certainly afford to pay them, too, considering the team made $7 million in profit over the course of the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Financial figures for 2023 are not yet finalized, though the club is expected to post another large surplus.
“It stinks for our staff,” said O’Shea. “The entire staff deserves to be top (paid) in their group. You can’t argue that.”
“I asked the exact question when (the operations cap) was presented to us. I posed it with (Calgary Stampeders’ head coach) Dave Dickenson in mind because he had been to three (Grey Cups) or had been to two and was approaching a third, whatever, and the answer was, ‘Too bad.'”
The operations cap was originally set at $2,588,000 but it was reduced amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It has since been raised, though it’s unclear by what amount. Teams that violate the cap are subject to a dollar-for-dollar fine for the first $100,000 they go over. For violations over $100,000, teams forfeit a draft pick(s) and are fined between $25,000 and $250,000.
