No shortage of agreements in principle with CFL negotiation window opening

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.

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.

Other agreements reported Sunday included:

— Winnipeg also reaching two-year deals with Canadian receiver Tommy Nield, offensive lineman Jarrell Broxton and defensive lineman Jake Ceresna, both Americans.

— 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’s deal is worth $270,000 annually.

— 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an agreement with American returner James Letcher Jr., who spent the last three seasons with Montreal, but it was later withdrawn.

— 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 — winning Grey Cups in ’22 and ’24 — 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.

— 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.

Before the window opened, a league source told The Canadian Press that Edmonton had restructured American defensive back Chelen Garnes’s 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.

Garnes had 62 tackles and an interception last year and was Edmonton’s nominee for the CFL’s outstanding rookie award. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity as Edmonton hadn’t announced the move.

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

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 1, 2026.

Dan Ralph, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

No shortage of agreements in principle with CFL negotiation window opening

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