What Chase Claypool Being Added to CFL Team's Exclusive Negotiation List Means for WR

Karl Rasmussen | Apr 2, 2024

Former Miami Dolphins wide receiver Chase Claypool. / Rich Storry/GettyImages

Chase Claypool is still seeking a new home after fizzling out with both the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins in 2023.

Claypool hit free agency this offseason for the first time in his career, and the market for the 25-year-old has not moved quickly. As the calendar rolls into April and the former second-round pick remains unsigned, at least one organization north of the border is seemingly preparing for the possibility that Claypool could make the move to the Canadian Football League.

The CFL's Saskatchewan Roughriders have reportedly placed Claypool on their exclusive negotiation list ahead of the 2024 season, according to 3DownNation.

In other words, if Claypool joins the CFL, the Roughriders will have the first and exclusive rights to sign him. The transaction does not necessarily indicate that a move to Canada is on the cards for Claypool, however.

TSN's Farhan Lalji reported Tuesday that Claypool is still drawing interest from NFL teams in free agency. The Roughriders have not made contact with him, nor do they plan to anytime soon.

CFL teams are each permitted to add 45 players to their Exclusive Negotiation List, and those players can be signed as long as they don't have an existing contract in another league.

Claypool, a native of British Columbia, has played four seasons in the NFL, spending time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, Bears and Dolphins. He got off to a promising start to his career, including nine touchdown catches in his rookie year and 121 receptions across his first two seasons, but his production tailed off over the subsequent two seasons. He has been traded twice since the 2023 NFL draft.