No shortage of agreements in principle with CFL negotiation window opening

TORONTO — The CFL’s free-agency process opened with quite a bang Sunday.

The CFL negotiation window — the time when teams can contact pending free agents — opened at noon ET on Sunday. And roughly 16 minutes in, TSN was reporting that American defensive back Jonathan Moxie had agreed to terms with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

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 and American offensive lineman Jarrell Broxton.

— Edmonton coming to terms with offensive linemen Coulter Woodmansey and Brendan Bordner, 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 agreeing to terms with American running back Greg Bell, who ran for a career-high 1,038 yards last season with Hamilton, and returner James Letcher Jr., another American who spent last season with Montreal. The Redblacks also reach an agreement with Canadian linebacker A.J. Allen, who had 87 tackles last season with Saskatchewan.

_ The Toronto Argonauts agreed to terms 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.

One player drawing much interest Sunday was American receiver Ayden Eberhardt. The 27-year-old set career highs last year for catches (45), yards (863) and TDs (four) with the B.C. Lions.

Eberhart’s 19.2-yard average per catch was second-highest in the CFL behind Calgary’s Damien Alford (20.4). Alford, 24, of Montreal, signed with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints this off-season.

Three teams were reportedly also interested in veteran DB Demerio Houston. The 29-year-old appeared in five games last year with Winnipeg but has 14 career interceptions in 50 regular-season contests with the Bombers and Calgary.

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 Grey Cup-champion Saskatchewan 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.