The XFL Has Been Signing Some The CFL’s Best Players And Canadians Are Starting To Get Very Reasonably Upset

The XFL has so far pretty much taken a hands-off approach to signing any players currently on NFL rosters. Mostly because why would any player leave an NFL team to play in the XFL?

XFL commisioner Oliver Luck has said the XFL is open to signing college football players who are too young to declare for the NFL Draft, however.

The XFL also, apparently, has no qualms about going after and signing some of the best players from the the Canadian Football League (CFL).

This we know because CFL fans, including former Calgary Stampeders linebacker Keon Raymond have been taking to social media to politely complain about the XFL stealing away their players.

He is referring to 34-year-old wide receiver S.J. Green and 31-year-old offensive lineman Derek Dennis.

Green caught 716 passes for 10,222 yards and 60 touchdowns over 10 years with the Montreal Alouettes and three as a memeber of the Toronto Argonauts.

Dennis, who various points in his football career was a member of the Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, Arizona Rattlers, Calgary Stampeders, and Saskatchewan Roughriders, is a three-time CFL West Division All-Star (2016, 2018, 2019).

Green is currently a member of the Tampa Bay Vipers, while Dennis is on the XFL’s Team 9.

Green even tweeted in response to the complaints, “There will be more to follow.”

With regard to the X-odus taking place during the CFL’s offseason, Saskatchewan Roughriders head coach Craig Dickenson told the Calgary Sun, “I think you’re seeing less players available. There’d be more guys out there we’d be looking to bring in (if it weren’t for the XFL), but all of that has kind of already happened. If a guy is going to the XFL, he’s already there so we’re not competing for that guy.

“But yes, if there was no XFL there’d be a lot more players you’d be looking at to bring into rookie camp and workout this off-season. We’ll see how it goes. They’re playing games here pretty soon and I wish those guys the best. The more football there is, the better.”

Calgary Stampeders head coach Dave Dickenson said about the XFL’s impact on the CFL, “It’s harder to find quarterbacks right now because of the XFL. There were some players on our neg list who we thought would be ready to come up right now, but they’re just not. We’ve dropped a few guys because of that and we’re trying to find other players.”

This is a pretty amazing statement considering how bad the quarterback play has been so far in the first two weeks of the XFL season, reports Michael David Smith of ProFootballTalk.

Through six XFL games, there still hasn’t been a quarterback with a 300-yard passing performance. And XFL quarterbacks have collectively thrown as many interceptions as touchdown passes. In the NFL last season there were almost twice as many touchdown passes as interceptions.
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Among the poor performances yesterday were Brandon Silvers of the Seattle Dragons completing just 7 of 18 passes for 91 yards, two Tampa Bay Vipers quarterbacks combining for zero touchdowns and three interceptions, and New York Guardians starting quarterback Matt McGloin completing just 8 of 19 passes for 44 yards, with no touchdowns and two interceptions before getting benched. Only DC Defenders quarterback Cardale Jones, who threw for 276 yards and two touchdowns, resembled a competent professional quarterback.

This is why the XFL, with all its rules geared towards the offense, is averaging six points LESS than the average NFL game during the 2019 season.

Considering the XFL and CFL schedules don’t overlap, and the fact that the XFL currently plays just 10 regular season gaems, some are suggesting that there will be players competing in both leagues, grabbing two paychecks along the way.

Then again, if this anonymous member of the XFL’s Tampa Bay Vipers’ attitude is any indication, the CFL might not look like too bad an option after all.

Fucking Trestman….

[Sports Gossip]