Neg Lists for Christmas from the CFL
A Christmas list will usually get people thinking about Santa. And whether you’ve been naughty or nice. No-one wants that lump of coal in the sticking after all. But, for the CFL clubs a Christmas list means something slightly different. Their Christmas list involves disclosing 10 players each from their neg lists (negotiation lists).
Having the clubs reveal 10 players each on the neg lists around this time of year is a good move. It keeps the news cycle going. And gets fans talking. Especially about on field possibilities even though it is the off-season.
Neg Lists – What are they anyway?
Using negotiation lists allows teams to acquire the rights for international players. Each CFL team has its own negotiation list, allowing the team to have exclusive rights to negotiate a contract with the players on their list. This does not preclude players from signing with another league. Only a fully fledged signed contract could do that.
Players are placed on team negotiation lists on a first come, first served basis. Lists can often change and additions or removals are often not known by anyone outside of the team making the list, and the league who they report it to.
However, twice a year the teams reveal a list of ten names on their list. The league has been doing this for a while now. And that, in my opinion, is a good thing.
CFL by-laws state that teams can claim exclusive CFL rights for up to 45 players by placing them on their negotiation lists. Players can be added, removed or traded from the lists at any time.
The truth is that a lot of the players listed won’t ever suit up in the CFL. A lot of them won’t even have been aware they were on the list. But, it creates chatter. It gets fans talking.
A Christmas list – who is listed with each team?
The 10 player released on each team are listed below:
BC LIONS
| BRICE, Chase | QB | Appalachian State |
| DUGGAN, Max | QB | TCU |
| HALL, Jaren | QB | Brigham Young |
| LEARY, Devin | QB | North Carolina State |
| MCCALL, Grayson | QB | Coastal Carolina |
| MELLOTT, Tommy | QB | Montana State |
| NUSSMEIER, Garrett | QB | Louisiana State |
| PLUMLEE, John Rhys | QB | Central Florida |
| TUNE, Clayton | QB | Houston |
| WARD, Cameron | QB | Washington State |
EDMONTON ELKS
| AHLERS, Holton | QB | East Carolina |
| BOLDEN, Isaiah | DB | Jackson State |
| CENTEIO, Todd | QB | James Madison |
| FRYFOGLE, Ty | WR | Indiana |
| JELKS, Jalen | DL | Oregon |
| NIX, Bo | QB | Oregon |
| PENIX JR, Michael | QB | Washington |
| RISING, Cameron | QB | Utah |
| SANDERS, Spencer | QB | Oklahoma State |
| SAYLORS, Jacob | RB | East Tennessee State |
CALGARY STAMPEDERS
| BELLAMY, LeVante | RB | Western Michigan |
| BONNER, Logan | QB | Utah State |
| BROWNING, Jake | QB | Washington |
| HAENER, Jake | QB | Fresno State |
| JACKSON, Robert | DB | UNLV |
| LEMONIER, Jessie | DE | Liberty |
| LEWIS, Tommylee | WR | Northern Illinois |
| STEINMETZ, David | OL | Purdue |
| VANTREASE, Kyle | QB | Georgia Southern |
| WESTRY, Chris | DB | Kentucky |
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
| ALBRIGHT, Christian | DE | Ball State |
| FERGUSON, Parker | OL | Air Force |
| HIERS, Michael | QB | Samford |
| HOLLAND, Jeff | DE | Auburn |
| HUTCHERSON, Sadarius | OL | South Carolina |
| HYATT, Mitch | OL | Clemson |
| KIRK, Luther | DB | Illinois State |
| ROGERS, Will | QB | Mississippi State |
| TAYLOR, Julian | DL | Temple |
| THORNE, Payton | QB | Michigan State |
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
| ANDRIES, Blaise | OL | Minnesota |
| CUNNINGHAM, Chase | QB | Middle Tennessee State |
| CUNNINGHAM, Malik | QB | Louisville |
| DENG, Kuony | DE | California |
| EALY, Adrian | OL | Oklahoma |
| FINCH, Sharif | DE | Temple |
| PARRIS, Timon | OL | Stony Brook |
| REMIGIO, Nikko | WR | Fresno State |
| WADE, Barrington | LB | Iowa |
| WILLIAMS, Denzel | DB | Villanova |
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
| BAYLESS, Omar | WR | Arkansas State |
| CRAWFORD, Kekoa | WR | California |
| DANIELS, Jalon | QB | Kansas |
| FULLER, Aaron | WR | Washington |
| JOHNSON, Josh | RB | Louisiana at Monroe |
| JONES, Xavier | RB | Southern Methodist |
| KAMARA, Azur | DL | Kansas |
| REED, Austin | QB | Western Kentucky |
| SLOVIS, Kedon | QB | Pittsburgh |
| STROMAN, Greg | DB | Virginia Tech |
TORONTO ARGONAUTS
| GARROR, Eric | DB | Louisiana-Lafayette |
| HENDERSON, Nolan | QB | Delaware |
| KOKOSIOULIS, Fotis | WR | Fordham |
| LAND, Isaiah | DL | FAMU |
| MCLAUGHLIN, Jaleel | RB | Youngstown State |
| MCMAHON, Deonta | RB | McNeese |
| PARKER, Aaron | WR | Rhode Island |
| PAYTON, Fred | QB | Mercer |
| STANLEY, Nate | QB | Iowa |
| TRAVIS, Jordan | QB | Florida State |
OTTAWA REDBLACKS
| BLACK, Josh | DT | Syracuse |
| COOK, Dylan | OL | Montana |
| DANIELS, Jayden | QB | Louisiana State |
| MORGAN, Tanner | QB | Minnesota |
| NEWSOME, Dazz | WR | North Carolina |
| RUSSELL, Chapelle | LB | Temple |
| SCHAFFER, Thomas | DL | Stanford |
| SMITH, De’Veon | RB | Michigan |
| THOMAS, Skyler | DB | Liberty |
| THOMPSON-ROBINSON, Dorian | QB | UCLA |
MONTREAL ALOUETTES
| CHEEK, Davis | QB | Elon |
| CLIFFORD, Sean | QB | Penn State |
| EZZARD, Jequez | WR | Sam Houston |
| GABBERT, Brett | QB | Miami (OH) |
| MCKINNEY, Parker | QB | Eastern Kentucky |
| MCNAMARA, Cade | QB | Michigan |
| MILLER, Christian | DL | Alabama |
| PERRY, EJ | QB | Brown |
| ROSE, AJ | RB | Kentucky |
| SCOTT JR, Lindsey | QB | Incarnate Word |
Emphasis on the QB
Of the players teams have chosen to reveal there are some interesting different areas of emphasis. Whilst some teams have put together a range of positions, others are laser focused on the QB. Montreal, for example, have seven QB’s on their list. Nobody has gone as all in on that one as the BC Lions however. They have put a full complement of 10 pivots on their list! In fact 28 of the 90 players listed are QB’s. So nealry a third.
Some quite big college names are on the list. The strong likelihood being that they will never set foot on a CFL field. But that does not mean CFL fans cannot have funs speculating. Or looking through these lists and wondering if a less well known name could head North to make a name for themselves.
Banner Image: Kedon Slovis of Pitt is on the Ticats neg list. Image from Pitt Post Gazette