The 2023 CFL global draft was a selection of non-Canadian and non-American players by Canadian Football League (CFL) teams that took place on May 2, 2023. It was the third CFL draft that pooled all of the global players together after previously having separate drafts for Mexican players and European players in 2019.
Draft format
This year's draft featured two rounds with a total of 18 selections.3 This was reduced from three rounds in 2022 and from four rounds in 2021.4 This year's global draft was also the first to be based solely on the waiver priority order (reverse standings from the previous year) and the first to have the same order in each round (as opposed to a snake order draft).5
Draft order
Round one
| Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | University/club team | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ottawa Redblacks | Blessman Ta’ala | DL | Hawaii | American Samoa |
| 2 | Edmonton Elks | Dean Faithfull | K | Colorado State-Pueblo | Great Britain |
| 3 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Adam Korsak | P | Rutgers | Australia |
| 4 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Penei Pavihi | LB | Hawaii | American Samoa |
| 5 | Montreal Alouettes | Simon Lars Sandberg | DL | Oregon State | Sweden |
| 6 | Calgary Stampeders | Isaac Moore | OL | Temple | Sweden |
| 7 | BC Lions | Jevoni Robinson | WR | Barry | Jamaica |
| 8 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Jamieson Sheahan | P | California | Australia |
| 9 | Toronto Argonauts | Alfredo Gachuz Lozada | K | ITESM CEM | Mexico |
Round two
| Pick # | CFL team | Player | Position | University/club team | Nationality |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Ottawa Redblacks | Lucas Lavin | OL | Chattanooga | Sweden |
| 11 | Edmonton Elks | Kilian Zierer | OL | Auburn | Germany |
| 12 | Saskatchewan Roughriders | Habakkuk Baldonado | DL | Pittsburgh | Italy |
| 13 | Hamilton Tiger-Cats | Lou Hedley | P | Miami (FL) | Australia |
| 14 | Montreal Alouettes | Rhys Byrns | P | Louisiana-Lafayette | Australia |
| 15 | Calgary Stampeders | Lino Schröter | LB | Cologne Crocodiles | Germany |
| 16 | BC Lions | Junior Aho | DL | Southern Methodist | France |
| 17 | Winnipeg Blue Bombers | Karl Schmitz | P | Jacksonville | Bermuda |
| 18 | Toronto Argonauts | Emmanuel Falola | LB | Bristol Aztecs | Great Britain |
Trades
In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
Round three
Note: These trades were made prior to the league revealing the number of rounds for this draft.
- Calgary → Saskatchewan (PD). Calgary traded this selection and a seventh-round selection in the 2023 CFL National Draft to Saskatchewan in exchange for James Smith.6
- Saskatchewan → Calgary (PD). Saskatchewan traded this selection originally acquired from Calgary back to Calgary in exchange for James Smith.7
Trade references
General references
References
"Revamped CFL Combine season, CFL Draft highlight '23 off-season". Canadian Football League. January 19, 2023. https://www.cfl.ca/2023/01/19/revamped-cfl-combine-season-cfl-draft-highlight-23-off-season/ ↩
"CFL to hold global player combines in Europe, Mexico and Japan" (Press release). Canadian Football League. November 5, 2019. Retrieved January 23, 2021. https://press.cfl.ca/cfl-to-hold-global-player-combines-in-europe-mexico-and-japan ↩
"2023 Global draft tracker". Canadian Football League. Retrieved April 21, 2023. https://www.cfl.ca/2023-global-draft-tracker/ ↩
"CFL aligns Global Draft date w/ CFL Draft on May 3". Canadian Football League. February 24, 2022. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/02/24/cfl-aligns-global-draft-date-w-cfl-draft-may-3/ ↩
"2023 Global draft tracker". Canadian Football League. Retrieved April 21, 2023. https://www.cfl.ca/2023-global-draft-tracker/ ↩
"Stamps acquire P James Smith in trade with Riders". Canadian Football League. June 5, 2022. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/06/05/stamps-acquire-p-james-smith-in-trade-w-riders/ ↩
"Riders acquire Global P Jimmy Smith in trade with Calgary". Canadian Football League. Jul 4, 2022. https://www.cfl.ca/2022/07/04/riders-acquire-global-p-jimmy-smith-in-trade-with-calgary/ ↩