SportsCage CFL analyst Glen Suitor explained the team side behind franchise’s releasing players prior to offseason roster bonus payments. 

“I know because of Austin Mack being released in Montreal, the receiver, a lot of people on social media are saying, ‘This is the problem with the league.’ This is why players don’t want to get settled in a city, bring their family and all that kind of things. This is pro football and both sides of the equation needs to be discussed,” Suitor said on The SportsCage.

“These long-term deals — people saying Austin Mack… let me play devil’s advocate and talk about the club side of that discussion. Austin Mack was great in ’23, last year not as good a season, he was injured part of it and that was an issue for him. But the money being spent, the team has to look at it and say, whether there’s a bonus due or not, ‘Are we going to look at this guy at $200,000 a year or can we get the same production out of someone else?’ That’s just the game, that’s pro football.”

According to 3DownNation, the 28-year-old Mack was scheduled to receive $45,000 on Sunday, February 1, however Montreal released him prior to that date. He signed a contract extension with the Alouettes through the 2028 season in August 2024, but now the six-foot-one, 208-pound pass catcher is a CFL free agent. The Ohio State University product was the ninth-highest-paid player at his position last year, although he was limited to 12 regular-season games due to injury and was hindered in the playoffs by a nagging hamstring issue.

“If you can get better production out of a guy… they may know more about the injury than any of us know or more about [Mack’s] physical side of his game than us. There’s two sides to this equation. It is unfortunate. I’d love to see players stay in the city, be marketed, buy a house and make it their homes. That’s ideal when it happens, but it’s pro football and you have to bring in the best players you can and balance it,” Suitor said.

Veteran receiver Tim White did not have an offseason roster bonus due, instead he was a pending free agent when the Tiger-Cats released him prior to the market opening officially on Tuesday, February 10. White produced four straight 1,000-yard seasons with Hamilton, including 84 receptions for 1,016 yards with seven touchdowns in 2025. According to 3DownNation, he was the fifth-highest-paid at his position last season, earning $224,800 in hard money.

“Tim White. Something happened in Hamilton where he became inconsistent. When he wasn’t being consistent on the field, he was still accumulating over a thousand yards in years where we were describing it as he’s having another off year,” Suitor said.

“He’s a thousand-yard guy, perennial thousand-yard guy with the potential of being a 1,700, 1,800-yard guy. There’s a redemption side of Tim White. When you’re an athlete and they’ve said, ‘No, thank you.’ You want to sign a deal and show them that they made a huge mistake. I don’t care really what team, give me a really good quarterback and I’m in.”

White has signed a one-year contract with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers for the 2026 CFL season.