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Ahead of the 2023 Call of Duty League season, several players have announced their free agent status. Notable COD players like Ian “Crimsix” Porter, Dillon “Attach” Price, and Ben “Bance” Bance, along with several others, took to their social media accounts to reveal that they would be unrestricted free agents leading into the upcoming CDL season.
The New York Subliners had the famous Call of Duty player Crimsix for the entire 2022 season. The player ended his run with the organization by giving an impressive performance at the Major Four, qualifying them for the playoffs at the end of the season. When announcing his new free agent status on Twitter, Crimsix wrote, “Unrestricted Free Agent for 2023 and onward.”
Besides the player, Paul “PaulEhx” Avila, another player in The New York Subliners, also announced his intention to be a restricted free agent in the second Modern Warfare season. The declaration was shortly followed by a request for interested teams to contact him.
One of the top European COD players, Bance, also announced his intention to join the free agency. The player is currently with the Toronto Ultra and has spent the last three COD seasons with the team. The English esports player wrote on Twitter, “Toronto, it’s been fun. Unrestricted F/A for the 2023 season.”
According to Brett Diamond, the COO of the Minnesota RØKKR, four players from the esports team’s starters unit would change their status to free agents. The contracts of the players, including Attach, Eli “Standy” Bentz, Colt “Hovak” McLendon, and Preston “Priestahh” Greiner, are set to expire on August 22, and Diamond revealed that the team was still making attempts to retain the players.
The RØKKR and Version1 COO said, “We’re talking with them about the possibility of re-signing as we evaluate all options.”
Besides the previously mentioned, a number of gamers who filled in as substitutes on several teams announced their status for the upcoming season. Jordon “General” General, a substitute for OpTic Texas, announced his new unrestricted free agent role. Besides him, a more popular face on the team, Byron “Prolute” Vera, also revealed his free agent status.
Prolute has stepped into OpTic Texas to play for unavailable players several times in the Vanguard season. He was previously called in to replace Indervir “iLLeY” Dhaliwal, who had a thumb injury in the team’s starting lineup. The 21-year old gave an impressive performance despite the unexpected positioning.
Another team sub to join the free agents is Nathaniel “Pentagrxm” Thomas. The player is currently a part of the Electrify Steel Gaming Black and previously played as a substitute for the Los Angeles Thieves.
The Call of Duty League for 2022 will reportedly come to a close on August 21, right before midnight. The following season will kick off almost immediately at 12 AM PDT on August 22. The roster construction rule revealed new information concerning the reason for the date.
It explained that the date would help players without league contracts have more flexibility when deciding on an organization to be a part of in the league. The mandate also mentioned the need to “incentivize investment by team owners in player development within the competitive Call of Duty ecosystem outside of the League”.
Any player without a contract that extends to the 2023 season at the end of the 2022 Call of Duty League year officially becomes a free agent. A long-term contract with a team is at least a year long and, at most, three years long. Players without teams were given free rein when marketing their expertise on the field to other league organizations.
If they decide to transfer from their teams, the free agent players must submit transfer requests to the league office. They were also advised against putting together “any formal agreements or make binding commitments to do so outside the permitted windows”. They were also discouraged from discussing new contracts with potential teams until the end of the season.
