Courtesy: David Moll/CFL

In 2020, the CFL introduced a window leading into free agency which allows teams to negotiate with pending free agents. Formally called the “communication window,” some call it the “tampering window,” though it also has another name.

“If they call it the ‘Ed Hervey window,’ I embrace it, I quite enjoy it,” the Edmonton Elks’ general manager told 3DownNation.

The colloquial term references an incident in 2013 during Hervey’s first stint as Edmonton’s GM. The team announced a major signing four minutes after free agency officially got underway and were later fined $10,000 for violating league tampering rules.

“Here’s the reality. I’ll say the Odell Willis thing was done intentionally. We debate about it, we laugh about it, but I’m gonna just shoot you straight. During that time, the year before, there was some things happening and I went to the league, the league said, ‘We had no proof.’ I said, ‘I’ll give you proof,’” Hervey said.

“But it had less to do with the proof, it had more to do with the amount of compensation that we were investing in these players, signing bonuses that they were asking for. I didn’t see it as a benefit for someone to ask for 100 grand, and you get to talk to them for 30 minutes and you commit to it.”

The short timeline led to the three-down league and its players’ association collectively bargaining a negotiating window. It was used for the first time in 2020 and has become a staple leading into the official market opening, giving teams over a week to get to know and negotiate with prospective free agents.

“Someone said, ‘Well, no, you got to wait, when free agency opens, you should use that time.’ But they’re placed on a clock, at that point. All of a sudden, the team tells you, ‘You got 30 minutes to make a deal.’ We’re talking — where the compensation has gone over the last 10 to 15 years — the reality is that if there’s an opportunity, I like more time to talk to be honest with you,” Hervey said. 

“If I was selling you beachfront property in Oklahoma, would you take it because I told you it was great? No, you wouldn’t. You’d want to see it, you’d want to talk about it, you’d want to do all those things. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury to do all of that (with free agents), but with respect to having a chance to speak to players and have them ask questions, they’re signing the contract, they have to go to bed at night and wake up with that decision they’ve made. All the other people that are around it have nothing to do with it at that point.”

Prior to the communication window being created, CFL free agency happened fast and furious with large contracts being agreed to in short order. Hervey believes operating in that way was not in the best interest for any parties involved.

“It’s not just about the money, it’s got to work for both sides: the player and the organization. The fact that we have a chance to talk to the players with that window, it allowed for us to make decisions, both for and against moving forward. Whereas years ago, we didn’t have that — you were on a clock, you crossed your fingers and hoped that you were getting someone that fits in your organization,” Hervey said.

“Anybody who’s against the window, they’re against it for the wrong reasons. It should be longer, to be honest with you because you can’t sign a contract during that time. If you were to ask for three years, $300,000 a year, and you wanted a $200,000 signing bonus, shouldn’t I, as the club, have an opportunity to sit down and talk with you? Beforehand someone said, ‘Well, no, you can wait to free agency.’ That’s unrealistic.”

Long live the CFL’s communication window. If you call it the ‘Ed Hervey window,’ that’s all right by him.