All of the starting quarterbacks around the Canadian Football League are working through contract restructures or negotiations, and most appear to be solved or headed towards an amicable resolution. But that’s not the case with the Toronto Argonauts and Matt Nichols.

Argos Vice President, Player Personnel John Murphy presented Nichols with an offer in early December. That offer was for a drastic reduction in hard money of close to 40 per cent. More importantly, the deal offers no signing bonus.

Nichols has two years remaining on his current contract and is due to make $345,000 in hard money in 2021 and is due a $220,000 signing bonus February 1st. With incentives, his deal could reach $555,000.

All of the QBs who have currently restructured their contracts have signing bonuses that range between $150,000 and $375,000. In many cases, off-season roster bonuses were converted to signing bonuses, which offer greater tax benefits to American players.

Nichols’ camp sent a counter-offer to the Argos which was declined and since then there have been no further negotiations, but the expectation is the two sides will revisit the issue later this month, with CFL free agency set to begin February 9th.

Nichols clearly wants to remain with the Argos, and is willing to take a pay cut to do so, but given the market conditions, it would be hard to justify accepting a deal with no signing bonus.

Ironically, Nichols’ lucrative deal was negotiated while he was coming off shoulder surgery. But one year later, he is completely healthy. Nichols has also recently completed his master’s degree in sports administration and has options beyond football, should a reasonable offer not be negotiated.

Other top CFL QBs such as the BC Lions’ Mike Reilly, Calgary Stampeders’ Bo Levi Mitchell, and Hamilton Tiger-Cats’ Jeremiah Masoli have also recently come off injuries that require surgery. Reilly, Mitchell, Edmonton Football Team’s Trevor Harris, Montreal Alouettes’ Vernon Adams, and Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Cody Fajardo have all recently restructured their deals, while Masoli, Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ Zach Collaros, and Ottawa Redblacks’ Nick Arbuckle are currently going through that process.