Crimsix Calls For CDL To Intervene With 'Money-Making Contracts'
The annual royal rumble that is the Call of Duty off-season's "rostermania" has well and truly kicked off, as the end of the Black Ops Cold War season has sparked the collapse of some of the greatest teams in the league.
Most notably, the two dynamos of "eClassico", Dallas Empire and OpTic Chicago, have wiped half of their squads, ahead of either a potential merger or a new rebuilding project.
Dallas Empire removed three-time World Champion and the most winningest player of all time, Ian "Crimsix" Porter, from their roster alongside mid-season signing Reece "Vivid" Drost, in a possible bid to combine with a pair of OpTic's finest.
However, Crimsix has now hit out at the league, as the player is still tied into a contract with Envy (ownership organisation of Dallas Empire), meaning that he will have to take a hefty pay cut next season so that teams can afford his buyout clause.
Crimsix Calls For CDL To Monitor Contracts
Porter appeared on The Flank, a talk show on Twitch hosted by Ben Nissim and former CDL professional Tommy "ZooMaa" Paparatto, where he discussed the rostermania season and being a free agent for the third time in his illustrious career.
However, the term "free agent" comes with two tags: restricted and unrestricted, and Crimsix falls into the latter category.
CDL players are often tied into one-season contracts, with an additional "plus one" clause in place to extend the tenure by another year. Players moving teams that are still under contract come under the "unrestricted" tag, meaning they are free to join other teams, but are still under contract with their parent organisation meaning a move must involve a transfer fee.
Speaking on the show, Crimsix says this method is now being adopted by orgs who have no intention of playing their contracted squad but are looking to make money off a transfer - something that now reflects the individual's pay packet.
Crimsix first opened up about the contracts by saying that he has negotiated a sign-on fee of $70,000 for organisations outside of California, as relocation will result in his cars, guns, and other assets having to be renewed with expensive licenses.
He then went on to brandish the "plus one" contract scheme as a "ransom".
Crimsix said: "When you see unrestricted versus restricted, I think it's bulls**t. If an org has no intention of playing you or using your talents, then you should be unrestricted.
"The league needs to step in and stop this s**t. The thing is for unrestricted people is that they have buyouts, some of them high buyouts. Those buyouts directly impact a player's salary for the next year. No matter where I go, I'm getting a salary cut, and it's probably significant."
He was quick to defend Dallas Empire and the General Manager Mike "Hastr0" Rufail, saying that this isn't just a one-off, every team does it.
He continued: "The league needs to step in and say 'if you have no intentions of starting someone, they are free to go', and it needs to be league-wide."
Crimsix was also a part of the driving force behind a players' union, back in the Modern Warfare era, alongside James "Clayster" Eubanks.
During The Flank broadcast, Clayster revealed that the union was almost formed, with ten "figurehead pros" all involved, however, it fell through due to the demanding time and effort needed on top of the strenuous schedules of competing.
Crimsix strayed away from revealing where he could be off to next, although a reunion with his former teammate could be on the cards, such as they tried to do during Major III.