Hamilton is not the only team reporting that the Alliance of American Football is affecting CFL recruiting. Redblacks GM Marcel Desjardins is also reporting that the AAF is already having an impact on whom his team is able to sign. Jim Barker thinks the AAF owners are aiming at being bought out by the NFL as a feeder league.

“We had a guy here in training camp who was injured and went back home to get healthy again,” the Ottawa Redblacks general manager said. “We were hoping he’d be an option for us to bring him back at some point but he opted to sign down there instead. There are players we would’ve liked to sign or had on our neg list who’ve committed there so they’ve been removed as options for us for the next little while. But having said that, we also know there’s a plethora of options and we just need to move on to the next one.” ...

Earlier this summer, Hamilton head coach June Jones said his club was poised to add two quarterbacks after dealing Johnny Manziel to Montreal but both opted for the AAF. And last week, receiver Mark Chapman, the first overall pick in the 2018 CFL draft by the Tiger-Cats, signed with the AAF’s Salt Lake City franchise rather than accept Hamilton’s offer after being released by the NFL’s Denver Broncos. ...


“If (players) are making US$70,000 the first year there and our minimum is $54,000 Canadian, just competing with it on that level is the first problem,” Desjardins said. “The second is a lot of guys who want to stay home in the U.S. compared to coming up north. They’re also playing 10 games … so, yeah, I see it being a challenge. We’ll find options. Will they be as good? I guess time will tell.”
Six AAF head coaches – Mike Martz (San Diego), Steve Spurrier (Orlando), Brad Childress (Atlanta), Mike Riley (San Antonio), Dennis Erickson (Salt Lake) and Mike Singletary (Memphis) – have also been NFL head coaches. Riley spent four seasons as the Winnipeg Blue Bombers head coach (1997-2000), winning two Grey Cups and compiling a 40-32 record.
Former Dallas Cowboys fullback Darryl Johnston is San Antonio’s GM while Phil Savage, the former Senior Bowl director and Cleveland Browns GM, is Phoenix’s general manager.
Former CFL head coach/GM Jim Barker feels the AAF’s NFL influence is no accident. “I think the end plan is to have the NFL purchase this league,” he said. “Bill Polian is thinking about creating a league … getting it running and going and then ‘Boom,’ have the NFL buy it and they have a ready-made feeder system where they can get their (practice roster) players reps and most importantly develop quarterbacks. I can’t believe their TV ratings and attendance will be able to carry them. Now, whether the NFL will bite on that after all the money it lost with NFL Europe, I don’t know.”
http://3downnation.com/2018/10/03/cf...ican-football/