REGINA -- The Saskatchewan Roughriders had the kind of season in 2024 where it wasn’t if a player was going to be injured, it was when.
The team experienced losses across the board throughout the campaign, more than a few times at the same position. And when that happens, it means new players have to be brought in.
New players mean more bodies on the roster, and more people who have to be paid. Which begins to add up very quickly as more and more players join the team to fill vacancies.
That leaves Roughriders' general manager Jeremy O’Day in a bit of an uncomfortable position -- being unsure if his team will be over the Canadian Football League’s salary cap in 2024.
“It'll be close,” he said during his season-end breakdown. “The challenge is what the salary cap is. A lot of the tough part of the salary cap is really trying to predict how many players you're going to have injured. Not necessarily on long-term injured, but more short-term injured. So it will be close. Some of it was out of our control, whether we're going to be over or right to it.”
The 2024 salary cap was set at $5.525 million with teams receiving fines for exceeding the limit up to $100,000. Over that mark, and teams lose picks in the CFL Draft.
In 2023, three teams exceeded the salary cap and were fined the amount they went over: B.C. $85,979, Winnipeg $25,947 and Hamilton $2,654.
All nine teams provide updates on compensation levels at the six-, 12- and 18-game portion of the season, and the CFL conducts an in-depth audit at the end of each season.
From the Riders’ standpoint, if they go over in 2024, injuries will be to blame.
“We had a lot of injuries that were outside of the six weeks. So what I mean by that is there were three- or four-week injuries,” O’Day said. “When you have that many guys in one game, it stresses your cap.”
The salary cap audit results are traditionally released in April.
