Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
TORONTO — Paying the most doesn’t always pay off.
It’s a cautionary tale from roughly six months ago that general managers may want to heed the next time free agency rolls around — because half a year after one of the most star-studded free agent crops in CFL history, last February’s free agent class has largely shaped the 2016 CFL season.
Whether that’s for good or bad could be left to interpretation.
The Bombers spent big and were rewarded. The Stampeders spent very little and were rewarded. Both teams are in a good position heading into the post-season.
The other seven teams could be categorized somewhere in between.
Justin Medlock, Andrew Harris and Trevor Harris were three highly-touted free agents that joined new teams and have played a major role in their teams’ success this season. Many others, however, didn’t have the same fortune.
Keon Raymond, Justin Capicciotti and Shawn Lemon are three players that have already switched teams since signing as free agents last winter. Lemon is tied for the league lead in sacks after being released by the Riders while Capicciotti was later traded by the Riders to Hamilton. Raymond was dropped by the Argos mid-season and has since joined the Ticats.
How have decisions made in February affected the standings 17 weeks in? We take a team-by-team look at the free agents that have defined the 2016 season:
BC Lions
One free agent that defines them: Jeremiah Johnson/Anthony Allen
Jeremiah Johnson has powered the CFL’s leading rushing attack (The Canadian Press)
The Lions were among the busier teams in free agency last February, albeit very quietly. Back on the sideline after a four-year hiatus, Wally Buono approached free agency with an eye on character and fit.
Letting the high-priced Andrew Harris walk and replacing him with Jeremiah Johnson and Anthony Allen has actually rejuvenated the Lions’ run game, which has been the league’s most effective through the first 17 weeks of the season.
There’s plenty more to what Johnson and Allen have done — from the system the Lions run to a strong offensive line — but the two talented international backs are a symbol of what a savvy veteran like Buono can do to help his team in the off-season.
They also proved that losing a franchise player in Harris isn’t the end of the world.
The Lions got a lot better in February without adding any real star power, and that has paid off.
Edmonton Eskimos
One free agent that defines them: John White
John White is starting to heat up for the Eskimos (The Canadian Press)
He wasn’t on the market for very long but John White has no doubt made an impact on the Edmonton Eskimos’ season.
White re-signed with Edmonton on the first night of free agency after missing all of 2015 with an Achilles injury suffered last year in training camp. And while he’s had fight to keep his job from the dynamic Shakir Bell, White’s role on the Eskimos’ offence has been a critical one.
The 25-year-old took some time to find his old form after a missed season but has been the catalyst in the Eskimos’ recent hot streak, rushing for 249 yards on 38 carries (6.6 yards per carry) over the last two games.
For a team that lost so much on the defensive side of the ball and changed coaches and systems on offence, White has brought some important familiarity to an Eskimos team hoping to repeat as Grey Cup Champions.
Calgary Stampeders
One free agent that defines them: Jerome Messam
Where would the Stampeders be this year without Jerome Messam? (The Canadian Press)
Onto another running back who opted to stay put; it’s hard to imagine where the Stampeders would be without Jerome Messam this year.
Time and time again the Stampeders have merely replaced their subtractions with productive players. It seems like a distant memory when the aging core of Joffrey Reynolds, Henry Burris and Jermaine Copeland made up the face of the franchise because all of those players have been replaced not once but twice.
In the same way players like Eric Rogers, Jon Cornish and Bo Levi Mitchell allowed the Stampeders to sustain success through so much change, Messam did the same thing this year by dominating both on the ground and through the air.
Sometimes the biggest free agent stories involve the guys stayed put. Messam re-upping in Calgary was easily the Stamps’ biggest off-season move this past winter.
Saskatchewan Roughriders
One free agent that defines them: Justin Capicciotti/Shawn Lemon
Shawn Lemon is tied for the league lead in sacks with the Argos (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
It’s hard to write about one without the other. Shawn Lemon and Justin Capicciotti came as free agents from Ottawa (Lemon was actually released by the team much earlier) and were expected to form a formidable pass rush for new head coach and football czar Chris Jones.
It turns out that was pretty wishful thinking because neither could make an impact while both have since moved on to other things.
What happened with the two dynamic pass rushers is all you need to know about what the Riders’ first season under Jones has been like. That’s not meant in a bad way; it simply means there’s been some trial and error in Riderville in 2016.
Jones has spent the season adding the most talented athletes he can while figuring out on the go which ones are a good fit. Capicciotti and Lemon were as talented as anyone but didn’t fit, while Jones has since found other talented replacements that do (Kendial Lawrence and John Chiles are other examples of free agent signings that didn’t pan out).
You knew there would be growing pains and there have been, but it looks like the hardest part is over in Riderville.
Winnipeg Blue Bombers
One free agent that defines them: Justin Medlock
Justin Medlock’s seven field goals led Winnipeg over BC in Week 17 (The Canadian Press)
You can’t talk about the Bombers’ free agent activity without mentioning players like Andrew Harris, Weston Dressler, Ryan Smith, Euclid Cummings and Keith Shologan.
Winnipeg re-defined what it means to go all-in on free agency last February as General Manager Kyle Walters took an aggressive approach to trying to put his team over the top.
The most impactful free agent may have been one of those less talked about, however, and that’s kicker Justin Medlock.
You could argue that Medlock is directly responsible for five of the Bombers’ victories this season, the most recent example being a 35-32 win over BC in which he connected on all seven field goal tries. The Bombers’ international place kicker has attempted at least five field goals in seven of the team’s 16 games this season while going perfect in four of them.
At one of the football’s most important yet least appreciated positions, Medlock has provided the Bombers the edge in the kicking game every single week.
Hamilton Tiger-Cats
One free agent that defines them: Ted Laurent
With the addition of Ted Laurent, the Ticats’ interior D-line is one of the CFL’s best (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Considered the best interior lineman in the CFL, and not just because of his passport, Ted Laurent was the key not only to the Ticats’ free agency plans but to all of CFL free agency as a whole.
After considering a return home to Montreal, Laurent decided to return to Hamilton and that set the stage for the Ticats to have, once again, one of the league’s most dominant defensive lines.
Laurent staying in Hamilton was significant for a couple of reasons. First, it abruptly changed the direction of the Ticats’ defence. Kent Austin and co. had to be more selective with their veteran free agents, letting a number of key players walk including Bryan Hall, Justin Hickman and Taylor Reed. Second, Laurent’s signing set off a domino effect that jump-started the remainder of free agency across the CFL.
With the commitment to Laurent in the middle of their D-line, the Ticats knew they were getting a steady rock for that unit, at the same time also knowing that 2016 might be a year of growing pains on defence.
That has been the case a little bit for Orlondo Steinauer’s unit, but the Ticats remain second in the league in sacks and are in the running to win a Grey Cup.
Toronto Argonauts
One free agent that defines them: Josh Bourke
Josh Bourke played in 10 games this season before landing on the six-game injured list (Argonauts.ca)
Looking back, the addition of Josh Bourke symbolizes a little bit of what’s gone wrong for the Argos this season.
Jim Barker strayed from his typical off-season game plan and added a number of experienced veterans in free agency to supplement a young and talented mostly-Canadian core.
Bourke was supposed to be the blindside protector of Ricky Ray after so many years of keeping Anthony Calvillo upright during the latter stages of his Hall of Fame career. Instead, the seven-time East Division All-Star struggled while Ray has suffered a pair of injuries that have put the Argos’ season in jeopardy — all before Bourke ended up on the six-game injured list.
Lirim Hajrullahu, Justin Hickman and Bryan Hall have all made meaningful contributions for the Argos while Keon Raymond and Brian Bulcke have since been released. That’s not even mentioning the loss of quarterback Trevor Harris to Ottawa, which brings us to the next item on the free agent agenda…
Ottawa REDBLACKS
One free agent that defines them: Trevor Harris
Henry Burris and Trevor Harris form an elite quarterbacking duo for Ottawa (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
Trevor Harris isn’t currently starting for the REDBLACKS but don’t sell his role short.
Harris signed a two-year deal with Ottawa to be the team’s ‘plan after Henry Burris’ but found himself playing as early as Week 1. Continuing his MOP-like production from 2015, Harris led Ottawa to an overtime win over Edmonton in Week 1 and kept the momentum going until suffering a knee injury in the first quarter of Week 5 in Regina.
Both Harris and Burris have played extensively this year while the 41-year-old Burris has taken at least a temporary hold of the starting job.
Still, Harris is no doubt critical to the REDBLACKS’ success both this year and in the future. After all, there’s a reason he remains the CFL’s leader with a 116.3 quarterback rating.
Montreal Alouettes
One free agent that defines them: Kenny Stafford/Duron Carter
Kenny Stafford and the Alouette offence did not take flight like initially hoped (MontrealAlouettes.com)
It’s obviously unfair to blame Kenny Stafford and Duron Carter for the Alouettes’ struggles this season. No, their names aren’t a symbol of disappointment; instead they eerily resemble the kind of hope the Alouettes had going into the season.
With an attacking veteran defence led by Noel Thorpe, an experienced quarterback in Kevin Glenn and an explosive group of receivers with Stafford and Carter back in town following previous stints, the Alouettes believed they could be as good as anyone in 2016.
That didn’t come to fruition for a number of reasons — a young offensive line that also sustained injuries; inconsistency at the quarterback position; a lack of chemistry on offence. Blame who you want, the Alouettes just weren’t what Jim Popp envisioned this year.
Next February things will probably be different. The defence remains in tact but the offence is a much younger group, now led by 23-year-old Vernon Adams Jr. at quarterback and a young receiver in B.J. Cunningham — pieces that complement a young offensive line with room to grow over the next few years.
