The B.C. Lions have forfeited their first and second-round picks in the 2025 CFL Draft after going over the salary cap by $347,889 last season.
The Toronto Argonauts, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Ottawa Redblacks also violated the salary cap, though no draft picks were forfeited. Toronto went over the cap by $87,103, while Saskatchewan went $40,121 over and Ottawa went $22,914 over.
B.C. previously acknowledged that they would be over the salary cap as the club tried desperately to win the Grey Cup at home last year, adding high-priced Canadian stars Nathan Rourke and Mathieu Betts midseason after they were cut from the NFL.
According to CFL bylaws, teams that exceed the salary cap by less than $100,000 receive a dollar-for-dollar fine. Violations of up to $300,000 receive a fine of double the amount in excess and result in the forfeiture of the team’s next available first-round pick, while anything more than that generates a fine of three times the additional amount and the loss of a team’s next second-round pick.
The Lions’ total fine for violating the salary cap will come out to $643,667 using this formula. All other teams will pay only the amount they exceeded the cap.
Due to their violation, B.C.’s picks are being awarded to the team with the worst record from the previous season, the Calgary Stampeders, and will be moved to the end of their respective rounds. There are only eight picks in the first round this year after the Edmonton Elks forfeited their first selection via the supplemental draft, meaning that the Lions’ third overall pick will be awarded to the Stampeders at eighth overall.
Calgary has also been awarded B.C.’s first second-round pick, which the team acquired from the Stamps in the Vernon Adams Jr. trade, though it’s also been moved to the end of the round. The Lions were permitted to keep their second second-round pick at No. 12 overall. As such, the new selection order for the 2025 CFL Draft is as follows.
Round One
1. Calgary
2. Hamilton
3. Ottawa
4. Saskatchewan
5. Montreal
6. Winnipeg
7. Toronto
8. Calgary*
Round Two
1. Hamilton
2. Edmonton
3. B.C.
4. Ottawa
5. Saskatchewan
6. Montreal
7. Winnipeg
8. Toronto
9. Calgary*
10. Winnipeg ^
11. BC ^
In 2023, three CFL teams exceeded the salary cap, though none went over by more than $100,000. B.C. led the way at $85,979 over the cap, followed by Winnipeg at $25,947 and Hamilton at $2,654.
The Montreal Alouettes were the first and only team to lose their first-round pick due to a salary cap violation in CFL history, going over by $108,285 in 2007. They surrendered the fourth overall selection in the 2008 CFL Draft, which reverted to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats at eighth overall and was used to select receiver Samuel Giguère out of the Université de Sherbrooke.
The league office fines any team penalized for a salary cap violation in the form of withheld monthly equity payments. The money is then evenly distributed to the teams that were salary cap compliant the previous year. This year, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Montreal will receive an additional $158,761 in compensation.
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