The difficulties of the CFL to NFL jump
Every offseason, plenty of CFL players head south attempting to crack NFL squads. This year was no different despite the NFL lockout, with both stars such as Andy Fantuz and lesser-publicized players like Mark Restelli and Andrew Hawkins crossing the border to try and earn four-down football jobs.
There’s plenty to gain for CFL players if they’re able to catch on in the NFL. Under the new labor agreement, the minimum contract for rookies on NFL active rosters has shot up to $375,000 annually, which is solidly in the middle of CFL quarterback salaries (and well ahead of what most other players make). Even the minimum practice roster salary in the NFL is around $88,000 for the year, ahead of the CFL’saverage salary estimated to be around $60,000.
Moreover, the chances of stardom are certainly there for some players. A case in point is Miami linebacker Cameron Wake, who went undrafted out of Penn State in 2005, had a brief cup of coffee with the New York Giants that season and then disappeared from the radar before joining the CFL’s BC Lions in 2007 and switching to defensive end. Wake went on to rack up 39 sacks, a Rookie of the Year nod and two Most Outstanding Defensive Player awards over two CFL seasons.
He was still considered undersized for the NFL, but the Dolphins made the unconventional move to take a chance on him before the 2009 season, and it paid off in a major way. After limited action in 2009, Wake broke out in a major way in 2010, finishing third in the NFL with 14 sacks, adding 57 tackles and three forced fumbles and earning a Pro Bowl nod.
However, while former CFL players like Wake and Stefan Logan (a kick returner with the Detroit Lions) have done well in the NFL, the transition isn’t easy for many. Each year, most of the CFL players who head down south wind up getting cut outright. They’ll occasionally bounce around with a few different teams, but often find it hard to make an impact and frequently wind up returning north of the border.
A case in point there is Ricky Foley, the star CFL defensive end, who signed with Seattle in February 2010 but was cut before the end of August. After a short stint with the New York Jets, he was back in the CFL in September. His story’s far more the rule than the exception, as many CFL players find it tough to adjust back to the smaller fields and 11-a-side action in the NFL, and even those who are capable of making the transition often don’t get much of a shot.
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The CFL to NFL jump has been even more difficult than usual this offseason considering the NFL lockout. Although most CFL players signed with teams in January or February, and thusdidn’t have to wait as long as undrafted free agents to find out where they were going, they faced many of the other challenges common to those coming out of the college ranks this year. CFL players weren’t able to work with their new coaches before training camps opened in August, and without organized team activities (OTAs), drills, facility access and the rest of the typical off-season instruction, they faced a much steeper hill than they typically would have.
Fantuz is one player who may have been affected even more than most. He led the CFL in receiving last season with 1,380 yards and six touchdowns on 87 catches, but he has struggled to make an impact with the Chicago Bears this preseason. Part of that may be because this is the first time he’s ever played 11-a-side football at a high level.
Unlike most of the guys attempting to make the CFL to NFL transition, Fantuz doesn’t have experience in either the NFL or NCAA: he played Canadian university football with the Western Mustangs before making the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Thus, the lockout’s cancellation of OTAs may have been particularly difficult for him, as those would have been an excellent chance for him to adapt to the NFL game. That’s not just an outsider opinion either, as Fantuzexpressed similar sentiments to Grizzly Detail‘s Maggie Hendricks last week.
“It’s a different game,” Fantuz said. “Just the way the offense is set up, and how specific it is, and how much there is to learn, it’s just not something I’m used to. The fact that I’m playing a lot of special teams now, and scratching and clawing for reps is something new for me. I’m going to stay positive.”
It’s not just Fantuz who’s having issues, either. Phillip Hunt, the CFL’s sack leader in 2010, is reportedly in a tough battle for a roster spot in Philadelphia, while Hawkins has already switched teams after being cut by St. Louis. Former BC Lions’ star receiver Emmanuel Arceneaux committed an embarrassing fumble that cost his Minnesota Vikings a touchdown Saturday against Seattle and doesn’t have the best odds of making the team.
It’s not all negative for former CFL players, as former Calgary defensive back Brandon Browner is settling in quite nicely in Seattle. Given the regular attrition rate of CFL to NFL moves and this year’s complicated circumstances, he may be one of the only ones to make it, though. Fantuz, Arceneaux, Hunt and others still have a shot, but they’re facing steep odds that have been further complicated by the lockout. For every Cameron Wake who makes the jump, there are plenty of others who fall short.
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