The BC Lions, Toronto Argonauts, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Ottawa Redblacks have each been penalized for exceeding the 2024 Salary Expenditure Cap, the CFL announced on Friday.
The 2024 cap, set at $5.525M, was exceeded by different amounts from the offending clubs, with BC being the worst of the offenders, and therefore receiving the stiffest penalty.
“In addition to being fined, the BC Lions will forfeit the highest of their first- and second-round selections (Nos. 3 and 9) in the 2025 CFL Draft due to the amount by which they exceeded the cap,” the CLF announced in a prepared statement. “BC retains its lower second-round selection (No. 11).”
“Per the CFL Constitution, the team with the highest waiver priority – in this instance, the Calgary Stampeders – have been awarded BC’s forfeited picks as the final selections in the first two rounds – Nos. 8 and 17.”
Ottawa, Saskatchewan and Toronto’s violations of the 2024 Salary Expenditure Cap were less egregious and will therefore will result in fines.
2024 SALARY EXPENDITURE CAP OVERAGES
- BC | $347,889
- Toronto | $87,103
- Saskatchewan | $40,121
- Ottawa | $22,914
The 2025 salary cap will see a significant jump, climbing to $6.06M for the upcoming season. As a result of the pick forfeitures, the 2025 CFL Draft now looks like this:
2025 CFL DRAFT – SELECTION ORDER
(Current to time of publication)
* Awarded as a result of BC exceeding the 2024 Salary Expenditure Cap
^ Awarded via the National Snaps Reward System
First Round
1. Calgary
2. Hamilton
3. Ottawa
4. Saskatchewan
5. Montreal
6. Winnipeg
7. Toronto
8. Calgary*
Note: Edmonton forfeited its first-round selection after claiming receiver Zach Mathis in the 2024 Supplemental Draft.
Second Round
1. Hamilton
2. Edmonton
3. BC
4. Ottawa
5. Saskatchewan
6. Montreal
7. Winnipeg
8. Toronto
9. Calgary*
10. Winnipeg ^
11. BC ^
Photo: Cmm3. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.