The Canadian Football League has voided the contract of BC Lions free agent signing Euclid Cummings over unspecified criminal charges the defensive lineman is facing.

Both the CFL and BC Lions football club have made statements regarding the matter.

“Upon learning of the criminal charges facing Euclid Cummings, CFL Commissioner Randy Ambrosie has voided his contract with the BC Lions. As these charges are before the courts, the CFL will offer no further comment.”

And from the Lions, a statement from Ed Hervey:

“We support the Commissioner’s decision to void the contract of Euclid Cummings in light of criminal charges he is currently facing. We were given no indication by the player or his representation that these charges existed and I assure our fans, partners and supporters of the CFL across Canada, that we would not have offered him a contract had we known about this situation. Given that matter is before the criminal courts and under a publication ban, we will not be offering further comment.”

This is a most untimely development for the Lions who signed Cummings in free agency with the intent of bolstering their defensive line. It’s unclear when these charges were made against Cummings, but if he knew about them and withheld them from the team, then it doesn’t look good on him.

It also won’t look good on the Eskimos if they knew about it when they decided to let him walk in free agency, or even before the season ended last year.

Either way it doesn’t look good on the player and his agent at this time. The Lions may have gone in a different direction and perhaps lost out on another player committing funds to Cummings, and are also on the hook for part of his salary and the loss of cap space according to Dan Ralph.

Have been told Cummings’ deal with B.C. was worth $150,000 that included a $70,000 signing bonus which the Lions can’t recoup and will have to include on their cap. #CFL

— Dan Ralph (@danralphcp) March 7, 2018

EDIT: I have been told that the $70,000 bonus paid to Cummings will NOT count towards the Lions cap number. Not confirmed.

More information on the charges Cummings is facing from an incident that occurred in Vancouver while he was with the Bombers.

This seems ridiculous on the surface if the Lions knew nothing about the charges and were not informed by Cummings party.

The legal matter is under a publication ban, so we’ll have to wait and see how his personal situation shakes down.