There are a number of terms unique to the Canadian Football League. For new or curious fans CFLdb provides this glossary of some phrases relating to rosters and their definitions. You can help us improve and add to this section by contacting CFLdb with terms you would like explained or suggestions for improvement.

See the CFL Transaction page for daily transactions. The abbreviations legend is not longer required as each transaction is now explained in full.

See the glossary page on on-field terminology. Please see the FAQ for answers to questions beyond terminology such as schedules, players, rosters and compensation. The rulebook is the best resource for penalty and foul terminology.

Have I made a mistake? Send your corrections to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Rosters and Qualification Rules

Active Roster

Starting in 2019, the active roster consists of 45 players, of which three (3) are identified as quarterbacks, a maximum of 20 classified as Americans, and a minimum of one (1) classified as a Global player and 21 classified as National players. To create the active roster, one player is placed on the reserve list from the 46 player roster and does not dress for the game.

Prior to 2019, one hour prior to each game, each member club shall establish their active roster at:

• a maximum of 44 players, including three players who shall be identified as quarterbacks and 41 other players, of whom not more than 20 may be Internationals, or

• a minimum of 43 players, including two players who shall be identified as quarterbacks and 41 other players, of whom not more than 20 may be Internationals.

The active roster is set by placing two (2) players from the 46-man roster on the reserve/non-active list for the upcoming game. This process is sometimes referred as “scratching” and the players as “scratches”. From the point of the 46-man roster being set 24 hours before game time to the end of the game, these are the only changes allowed to the Active Roster and Reserve List allowed without league approval.

American (A, AMER)

American player status defined as “A Player other than a National Player or a Global Player.” There are roster restrictions on the number of American players that can appear on CFL rosters, which is the reason for the classification.

American status replaces International status starting with the 2019 CBA, which renamed the former International status American and added the Global status.

College Draft

The annual draft of Canadian players graduating from universities in Canada and the United States. The details governing the eligibility of players and draft conduct is defined in Section 6 of the CFL By-laws.

Contract

Players must sign a contract to play football with a football club. The terms of the contract provide for the player’s salary and length of the contract. The player may not play football for any other football team during the term of the contract, unless he is released from the contract by the contracted football club. The player has contracted his football services exclusively to the football club for the term of the contract.

Depth Chart

A chart of positions with players listed in order they will see the field. At each starting position, the top player is the starter, and players below backups. A team’s depth is indicated by the quality of players in backup positions, and their ability to fill multiple positions in the case of injury.

Designated American (DA)

Formerly designated international and designated import (DI)

A designated American is an American player designated to only replace another American player on the field. This restriction provides for additional Nationals to play starting positions while providing a larger roster size. The designated American restrictions are defined in the CFL By-laws, Section 8, sub-sections 1 and 2 as amended by Article 23 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

• When the Member Club dresses its full compliment of American players (20) four shall be designated Americans and designated as special team players who may enter the game at another position only upon the understanding that another American player is required to leave the game for that play.

• When the Member Club dresses 19 American players, three shall be designated Americans and designated as special team players who may enter the game at another position only upon the understanding that another American player is required to leave the game for that play.

• When the Member Club dresses 18 American players, two shall be designated Americans and designated as a special team player who may enter the game at another position only upon the understanding that another American player is required to leave the game for that play.

The designated international term replaced the designated import term used prior to the 2014 CBA ratification. The number of DI positions also increased from three to four starting in 2014. More can be found on the designated international rule history in the FAQ.

Disabled List

A player who is judged unfit to play for reasons other than a football related injury may, at the request of the Club, be placed on the Disabled List as defined in Section 9, Item D of the CFL By-laws. Players place on the Disabled List do not count against the active roster or reserve list.

Franchise Territory

The operating and marketing area granted to a franchise. Definitions of Franchise Territory is defined in the CFL Constitution, Article IV and the current franchise territory limits are recorded in paragraph 4.07 of that section.

Free Agent

A player not under contract to any team is a free agent and able to negotiate and sign a contract with any team he wishes. All free agents in the CFL are unrestricted free agents; there is no provision in the CBA for restrictions on free agents at any point in their career. The converse of all free agents being unrestricted means there are no restricted free agents.

Game Roster

See Active Roster.

Global (G, GLO)

Introduced with the 2019 CBA, a global player is defined as “Any player who does not hold Canadian or American citizenship, and has not been physically resident in Canada for an aggregate period of five (5) years prior to attaining the age of eighteen (18) years, or who does not qualify as a National in any other way.” The CBA provides for one active (game) roster spot for a Global player starting in 2019.

Graduating Junior

A junior player who attains the age of 23 during the current calendar year.

Import (I, IMP)

The Import designation was replaced by the International designation with the introduction of the 2014 CBA. The deprecated, historical definition follows.

Defined in the league By-laws, modified by the Article 14, Section 2 of the CBA as:

(a) A player who has received training in football outside of Canada by having participated as a player in a football game outside of Canada prior to attaining the age of seventeen years.

(b) A player who has received training in football outside of Canada by having participated in a football game as a player outside of Canada after attaining the age of seventeen years, but who has received no football training in Canada prior to attaining the age of seventeen years.

CFLdb Razzle Dazzle has a one page graphic and explanation of CFL roster restrictions and definitions.

Injured List

Section 9F of the CFL By-laws define the six-game injured list, as amended in the CBA. Players placed on an injured list do not count against the active roster or reserve list.

The six-game injured list players’ salaries do not count against the salary cap. There is also a one-game injured list where players can be placed and not count against the active roster or reserve list. Players’ salaries on the one-game injured list do count against the cap.

The six-game injured list replaced the nine-game injured list with the adoption of the 2014 CBA.

International (I, INT)

The International designation was replaced by the American designation with the introduction of the 2019 CBA. The deprecated, historical definition follows.

Introduced with the ratification of the 2014 CBA, a International player is one who is not classified as a National player. There are a limited number of spots available for International players on a CFL roster.

The International designation replaces the Import designation used before 2014.

Junior Player

A person shall be considered to be of junior age in any year prior to the year in which the age of twenty-three years is attained as defined in Section 5 of the CFL By-laws. Franchise territorial rights assign the exclusive right to contact, negotiate with and sign a junior player to the Club’s territorial limits whom the junior player is domiciled within. A junior player shall be permitted to participate in that member Club’s practice sessions without being signed to a Standard Player Contract.

National (N, NAT)

The 2019 CBA defines as National player thusly:

(a) Canadian citizens at the time of signing the Player’s first C.F.L. Standard Player Contract or Practice Roster Agreement;

(b) A Player classified as a National prior to May 21st, 2019; or

(c) A Player who was physically resident in Canada for an aggregate period of five years prior to attaining the age of 18 years.

2019 — An American or Global Player who is draft eligible no earlier than the 2021 Draft and has played football for a minimum of three (3) year at a USports institution and has graduated with a degree at that institution.

2020 — In addition to the 2019 amendment above, the following will take effect the day before the start of training camp in 2020:

An American player on a roster with the same CFL team after three (3) consecutive years or four (4) years in the CFL. These players apply only to the starter ratio and not the roster allocation.

Introduced with the ratification of the 2014 CBA, a National player was defined from 2014 to 2019 as:

(a) was a Canadian citizen at the time of signing his first contract,

(b) was classified as a non-import prior to May 31, 2014,

(c) or was physically resident in Canada for an aggregate period of five years prior to reaching the age of 18.

The National designation replaces the Non-import designation used before 2014.

Negotiation List

A Club may claim exclusive negotiation rights to a specified number of players on its Negotiation List, and may make changes daily. More information on negotiation lists can be found in the FAQ.

The full rules regarding Franchise Negotiation Lists can be found in Section 3 of the CFL By-laws.

Negotiation lists may contain international and national players, but teams may not list players who are considered a veteran by the terms of the CBA. Those players, when not signed by any team, are free agents and may negotiate and sign with any club.

Non-Active List

Players not under contract who are permitted to practice with a Club are declared on the Non-Active List.

Non-Counter

Players which may participate in training camp but do not count against the requisite roster limits of training camp are called non-counters. These include territorial Junior players, draft picks who are attending their first CFL training camp, and players invited as part of the Canadian Quarterback Internship program. There are, at times, limits to the number of non-counters that a team may have in camp. No player who has participated in a CFL regular season or playoff game may be considered a non-counter.

Non-import (N, NIP)

The Non-import designation was replaced by the National designation with the introduction of the 2014 CBA. The deprecated, historical definition follows.

Previously defined in the CFL By-laws, modified in the CBA Article 14, Section 2 as:

(a) A Player other than one defined as an import.

(b) A Player classified as a non-import Player prior to November 28th, 2005.

(c) A Player who is physically resident in Canada for an aggregate period of seven years prior to attaining the age of 15 years, or a Player who is a Canadian citizen and was physically resident in Canada for an aggregate period of five (5) years prior to attaining the age of 18 years.

CFLdb Razzle Dazzle has a one page graphic and explanation of CFL roster restrictions.

Option Clause

Each player contract contains a clause which gives the Club the option to renew the contract for another season. Starting with contracts signed under the 2014 CBA, the option year only applies to players signing their first CFL contract. Veterans are not subject to contracts that require an option year.

Practice

Coaches run players through activities, exercises and game plays repeatedly and regularly during the week in order to maintain and improve the team’s proficiency. Teams are allowed 4.5 hours per day of practice and meeting time by the current collective bargaining agreement, and there are restrictions on practicing on certain days around games and travel. Practices are an opportunity to introduce new plays or focus on formations and plays that will be used to attack the weaknesses of the next opponent as determined by review of game film by the coaching staff. Up to one practice per week may be closed to the public and media to allow the development of “trick”, surprise or new plays and formations. In the CFL, after training camp, practices are unpadded, non-contact drills focused on building timing and muscle memory for games.

Release, Released

Released from contract; contract terminated. A player contract is an agreement between the player and club to exclusively play football for the club for the duration of the contract. When the club releases the player, they are releasing the player from the obligations of the contract (or terminating the contract). Upon being released, the player becomes a free agent able to sign with any club. There may be a waiver period that must occur before the player’s release becomes official. See Waivers.

Reserve List

Players on a Club’s roster who are not dressed for a game are carried on the Reserve List. The Reserve List shall consist of up to two players. Prior to 2014, the Reserve List consisted up to four players.

Retired List

A player who elects to retire may, at the request of the Club, be placed on the Retired Players List. Players placed on the Retired List are subject to rules regarding when they can return to active duty as defined in Section 9, Item B of the CFL By-laws.

Rookie

A player who has not been named on any CFL team’s active roster, reserve, injured or disabled list, or the equivalent category of a team in any other professional league at the time a game was played in a previous season.

Roster Cutdown Day

The date determined by the league when a Club is required to establish its roster within the prescribed limits. The cutdown day is generally defined as 21 days from the commencement of training camp per Article 6.01.7 of the CBA

Roster Quota

The League determines the number of players a Club may have on its roster, the number that may dress for a game, and how many may be Internationals. The roster size and classification limits are negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement with the Players’ Association.

Status (A/N/G)

A player’s eligibility status or classification with the league. See American, National and Global to understand player classifications and restrictions. Status of A/N/G began to be used by the league in 2019. Prior to that, I/N was used, which from 2014-2018 stood for International/National. Prior to 2014 it stood for Import/Non-import. The terminology used is dictated by the terms laid out in the collective bargaining agreement between the league and player’s association. CFLdb does not use the term status, preferring Class instead, which is short for classification and not related to ordering society in classes by some means.

Suspension List, Suspended List

A player who violates his contract with the Club may, upon application to the Commissioner, be placed on the League Suspension List as defined in Section 9, Item C of the CFL By-laws. Players placed on the Suspension List do not count against the active roster or reserve list limits. Most commonly being placed on the suspended list is the result of a player not reporting to training camp or leaving the team/not attending practice during the season without team approval.

Territorial Rights

A person given a junior player designation may not be, either directly or indirectly, contacted, negotiated with or signed by any other member Club other than the one whose territory the player is domiciled.

Third String

Almost exclusively in reference to the quarterback, used to describe the third player (as noted, usually the QB) on the depth chart. The third string quarterback may run the short yardage offence for the team. In the past, the third quarterback was relegated to the role of holding a clipboard and charting plays, not seeing the field unless there were multiple injuries.

Waivers

Waivers are defined in the league By-laws, Section 4.

Before a club may terminate a player’s contract it must give other Clubs the opportunity to claim the player’s services under the current terms of the contract.

The order teams are given the opportunity to claim a player on waivers is called the waiver priority order and is the reverse order of the league standings from the previous year and various times during the season.

Walk-Through

A light practice workout the day before the game, where teams “walk-through” the common plays they will be executing in their next game. These are unpadded, non-contact exercises focused on reinforcing responsibilities and assignments of offensive, defensive and special team players so the game can be played by instinct without thinking.

Injury Reports

Terms and abbreviations that appear on league published injury reports leading up to every game day.

DNP (Did Not Practice)

Did not participate in practice due to listed injury.

Full

Full participation in practice despite listed injury.

Limited

Limited participation in practice due to listed injury.

Lower-Body Injury (LBI)

Descriptor used in reports to indicate the general area of a player’s injury. See also UBI. Replaced by actual specific injury location on official injury reports.

Non football related

The player’s injury or reason for missing a game or practice is non football related, meaning either injury or illness not related to football or non-injury related at all.

Out

Will not be on active game roster for upcoming game. Will be on a team injured list, or possibly another inactive roster list.

Questionable

Player status for game roster for upcoming game is undetermined. Based on injury it is possible they play or don’t play.

Scratch, Healthy Scratch

Teams carry a 46-man active roster which must be declared 24 hours before game time. 1 hour before game time, teams must declare a 45-man game roster, meaning one player must be “scratched” and not dress for the game. Players may be scratched due to injury or for strategic reasons (coaches dressing more of one position and less of another position based on opponent). Players which are healthy enough to play but are scratched are called a “healthy scratch”, but this does not reflect on the player but the coaches decision to field the best team each week within the restrictions imposed.

On official injury reports, Healthy Scratch reflects the players status the previous game, and their current practice status for the upcoming week, with their Game Status shown after the last practice.

Upper-Body Injury (UBI)

Descriptor used in reports to indicate the general area of a player’s injury. See also LBI. Replaced by actual specific injury location on official injury reports.