Mandiekandie

...But not as much as I or others thought...(Credit the 'Zone on this one)

Kudo's to those Rider fans that stuck with the thought they were over by this amount. Good job by Tillman.

Cap crunch hardly hurts Roughriders
The Leader-Post (Regina)
Sat 05 Apr 2008
Page: C1 / FRONT
Section: Sports
Byline: Murray McCormick
Source: Leader-Post

The hit from the CFL's salary management system won't be as stiff as the Saskatchewan Roughriders were expecting.

The team was $54,330 over the CFL's $4.05-million salary cap in 2007. The team faces a fine of $54,330 but won't be penalized any picks in the 2008 Canadian college draft.

The football expenditures are included in the Roughriders financial report for 2007, which was recently mailed to shareholders. The financial report is to be presented at the Roughriders' annual general meeting, April 19 at the Queensbury Centre.

Jim Hopson, the Roughriders president and CEO, isn't happy about exceeding the cap but felt the consequences could have been much worse. At one point during the run to the 2007 Grey Cup, Hopson felt the team would exceed the cap by $100,000.

"We inherited a fairly rich contract base (in 2007),'' Hopson said Friday. "We had to work hard to get down to that number and there were a lot of changes made to the team. With various moves, we were able to get it down ($54,330).''

Hopson said the Roughriders were over the cap largely due to injuries. Players on the nine-game list don't count against the salary cap while those of a shorter duration do.

"We lost Chris Szarka because of a freak injury and Mike Washington was hurt at the end ... the list goes on,'' Hopson said.

An enforcable salary management system was implemented for the 2007 season. The fines and loss of draft picks kick in when teams exceed the cap. Teams are to be fined $1 for every dollar they are over the cap, up to $100,000. It's $2 for every dollar from $101,000 to $300,000 and the loss of a first-round pick in the draft. The fine is $3 for each dollar over $300,000 and the loss of first- and second-round draft picks.

The salary cap has been increased to $4.2 million this season, a boost of approximately $150,000 per team. The Roughriders have already made strides to meeting the cap with the trade of quarterback Kerry Joseph to the Toronto Argonuats. Joseph was to be paid $250,000 by the Roughriders in 2008.

"I'm confident with the steps we've already taken that we will be under the cap in 2008,'' Hopson said.

Hopson is confident that the other seven teams in the league will adhere to the salary management system.

"I believe that people worked really hard to get within that range,'' Hopson said. "Some of us were better at it than others. I'm confident that we will be fine in the coming year.''

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