{"id":491210,"date":"2026-02-22T03:00:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-22T03:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/491210\/"},"modified":"2026-02-22T03:00:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-22T03:00:31","slug":"moves-abound-with-cfl-negotiation-window-opening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/491210\/","title":{"rendered":"Moves abound with CFL negotiation window opening"},"content":{"rendered":"

TORONTO \u2013 The CFL\u2019s free-agency process opened with quite a bang Sunday.<\/p>\n

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The CFL negotiation window \u2014 the time when teams can contact pending free agents \u2014 opened at noon ET on Sunday. And roughly 16 minutes in, there were reports that American defensive back Jonathan Moxie had agreed to terms with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n

The Ottawa Redblacks reached two big agreements in principle with standout Canadian linebacker A.J. Allen and American receiver Ayden Eberhardt. Allen had 87 tackles last season with the Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan Roughriders while Eberhardt recorded 45 catches for 863 yards and four TDs with the B.C. Lions, his 19.2-yard average per catch being second-highest in the CFL.<\/p>\n

According to a league source, Eberhardt\u2019s two-year deal with Ottawa is for $285,000 in hard money with a maximum value of $299,000. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity as CFL teams rarely, if ever, divulge financial details.<\/p>\n

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Starting on Sunday, teams can contact and make binding, registered and non-retractable offers to pending free agents. The window closes next Sunday, after which current teams have a 48-hour period to speak with their own pending free agents.<\/p>\n

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Before free agency officially opens Feb. 10, players have the right to accept any offer made to them. If they opt not to accept any, they can become free agents and previous binding offers will no longer be valid.<\/p>\n

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Other agreements reported Sunday included:<\/p>\n

\u2014 Winnipeg also reaching two-year deals with Canadian receiver Tommy Nield, offensive lineman Jarrell Broxton and defensive lineman Jake Ceresna, both Americans.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Edmonton coming to terms with offensive linemen Coulter Woodmansey and Brendan Bordner (two-year deal reportedly worth $385,000 in hard money), defensive lineman Malik Carney and quarterback Taylor Powell. Woodmansey is Canadian, the other three are Americans. According to TSN, Carney\u2019s deal is worth $270,000 annually.<\/p>\n

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\u2014 Ottawa also agreeing to terms with American running back Greg Bell, who ran for a career-high 1,038 yards last season with Hamilton, and defensive back Demerio Houston, who played five games last year with Winnipeg, after B.C. withdrew an earlier two-year offer to the 29-year-old American. The Redblacks also had an agreement with American returner James Letcher Jr., who spent the last three seasons with Montreal, but it was later withdrawn.<\/p>\n

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\u2014 The Toronto Argonauts agreeing to terms on a one-year contract with American defensive back Robert Priester. He was with the Argos from 2022-24 \u2014 winning Grey Cups in \u201922 and \u201924 \u2014 before spending last season with Ottawa. The club also agreed to deals with veteran defensive back DaShaun Amos, who wore Double Blue in 2022-24 before spending 2025 with Hamilton, and Canadian defensive lineman Jonathan Kongbo, who spent last season with Edmonton.<\/p>\n

\u2014 With Bordner agreeing to a deal with Edmonton, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats reached an agreement in principle with Eric Lofton, an American offensive lineman who spent the last two seasons with Winnipeg. The Ticats also signed quarterback Tre Ford, a native of Niagara Falls, Ont., who was recently released by Edmonton.<\/p>\n

Before the window opened, a league source told The Canadian Press that Edmonton had restructured American defensive back Chelen Garnes\u2019s rookie contract. The Elks redid his second year (2026) and extended Garnes through 2027, with the new deal being worth $200,000 in hard money with a maximum value of $210,000.<\/p>\n

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Garnes had 62 tackles and an interception last year and was Edmonton\u2019s nominee for the CFL\u2019s outstanding rookie award. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity as Edmonton hadn\u2019t announced the move.<\/p>\n

Also, the Roughriders signed American running back A.J. Ouellette \u2014 who was a pending free agent \u2014 to a one-year extension. The five-foot-eight, 208-pound Ouellette was the CFL\u2019s second-leading rusher last season with 1,222 yards and a team-high nine TDs.<\/p>\n

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2026 The Canadian Press\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TORONTO \u2013 The CFL\u2019s free-agency process opened with quite a bang Sunday. The CFL negotiation window \u2014 the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":491211,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,943,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-491210","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-calgary-stampeders","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491210","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=491210"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/491210\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/491211"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=491210"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=491210"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=491210"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}