Well done, CFL public relations team.

The pay scale is whack, the players have no insurance, and everybody is talking about nationality on the field. That’s exactly how the Candian Football League wants it to be throughout the ongoing Collective Bargaining Agreement process.

A report by 3DownNation reporter Justin Dunk on March 16 said both the league and the CFL Players Association are in favour of lowering the ratio of Canadian to International starters on the field from seven to five. In the days that followed, social media blew up with opinions from players for and against lowering the ratio.

CFL star Duron Carter, who finished last season with the Toronto Argonauts after starting with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, said Canadians need to get used to a more competitive environment in football.

“Come on y’all… We all know the real… yes, there are very good Canadian players and always will be… but until Canadians grow up in a competitive environment like American players do, they are at a disadvantage,” Carter tweeted.

In response, former Argo Ricky Foley snapped back, saying the league would fold if it became overrun with american players.

“You ‘Merican #CFL guys kill me…Talkin’ bout they so much better than CDN’s/shouldn’t be a ratio. Y’all really think CDN (sic) citizens gonna come out to watch a league full of NFL rejects without any local Canadian boys?” tweeted Foley.

These are just two examples of many arguments that exploded across the Twitter verse for the remainder of March 16 following the announcement. The conversation has continued despite CFLPA executive director Brian Ramsay stating any report of agreed upon contract terms was false.

To be fair, Dunk reported there was no final decision and talks were preliminary, but added an anonymous source said the league and the CFLPA were at a consensus on the matter. All of this while CBA negotiations truck on.

What is nobody talking about? Nobody is talking about the fact that the way players are paid needs a serious overhaul. A player under contract revealed through an anonymous article posted to 3DownNation entitled, “A CFL Player speaks out: The league is taking advantage of us.”

The player explains contracts are no longer based on salaries and signing bonuses. Several conditions are placed on the contract that must me met in order for the player to get the value they signed for. Sitting out games due to ratio issues or injury could seriously cut into a season’s wage.

For an American player making the league minimum $52,000 Canadian, they will take home around $36,000 in U.S dollars before taxes, which they pay in both countries. As a result, some American players make less than their Canadian backups in the same position.

Teams have also taken to releasing players days before bonuses are set to kick in as a way to save cash.

Ramsay continued his four-tweet statement that it’s alarming the source that provided the info could be so misinformed. In reality though, it’s the best thing that could have happened for the league .

Instead of banding together to be part of the process of ensuring they get paid, and being vocal on serious issues, players spent the week bickering over whether or not five Canadian guys, or seven, are in the starting lineup.

The source came from the league, it’s all anyone has been talking about, and the CBA negotiations are free to go on relatively unscrutinized. Keep watching the left hand while the right pens a new CBA.

jothomas@postmedia.com