The Edmonton Elks are finally free from the shackles of the CFL’s football operations cap.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Turf District podcast this week, team president Rick LeLacheur revealed that the organization will no longer be on the hook for any money owed to former coaches or personnel executives beginning in the new year.
“That’s all behind us now. At the end of this month, the Elks are clear of any penalties or carrying forward any salaries,” he said. “We’re absolutely clear.”
The league implemented a football operations cap following the 2018 season designed to limit and equalize spending across all nine franchises. Teams were originally allowed to spend a maximum of $2,588,000 on a total of 11 coaches and 14 other football operations staff, which includes general managers, scouts, equipment staff, and video personnel. That number was reduced amid the COVID-19 pandemic and later raised again, though it’s unclear by what amount.
Money owed to fired coaches and personnel executives continues to count against the cap after the team has severed ties, reducing the amount of cash available to pay replacements. Teams are allowed one “mulligan” — a fired contract that doesn’t count against the cap — every five years and can spread the amount they owe over several seasons, but organizational transitions remain costly under the current system.
Teams that violate the cap are subject to a dollar-for-dollar fine for the first $100,000 they go over. For violations over $100,000, teams forfeit a draft pick(s) and are fined between $25,000 and $250,000.
None have been hit harder by the cap than the Elks, who first fired head coach Jason Maas after the 2019 season and then axed general manager Brock Sunderland and head coach Jaime Elizondo following a disastrous 2021 campaign. Those moves created significant financial challenges for the club, but LeLacheur says he remains a supporter of the football operations cap.
“I believe in the cap,” he insisted. “Let’s face it, football guys will spend any amount of money they’re given. We know that. That’s in their DNA and I understand that because it’s their job that’s on the line all the time. I’ve been through a lot of teams going out of business and teams running out of money, so I was a supporter of the cap and believer in the cap.”
Current Elks’ head coach and general manager Chris Jones has spoken out about the negative impact of the football operations cap in the past and he is not alone. Former Saskatchewan Roughriders’ head coach Craig Dickenson claimed it has been a hurdle to coach recruitment and development, while Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ head coach Mike O’Shea recently ripped the cap for making it difficult for winning teams to retain and properly compensate their staff.
Despite his support, LeLacheur was willing to admit that the system has flaws.
“Experiencing it from the Elks’ point of view, it sort of penalizes those that have made big mistakes beyond the extent that it should.”
That punishment is now over for Edmonton and they will be able to make staffing decisions without being hampered by previous errors in judgement. That could mean some new additions on the sideline or in the front office next season.
“We’re a player in personnel and we’re a player in coaches,” LeLacheur stressed. “That doesn’t mean that we’ll spend all the money, we never spent all the money in B.C. either, but we’re not going to be penalized anymore.”
The Elks will open the 2024 season on Saturday, June 8 when they host the Saskatchewan Roughriders at 7:00 p.m. ET.
[metabet_core_side_odds_tile query=”fbb/edmonton_elks” size=”100%x50″ site_id=”3downnation”]
