Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
OTTAWA — In a way, Marcel Desjardins has been here before.
It wasn’t long after winning the 104th Grey Cup Championship that the questions started pouring in for the Ottawa REDBLACKS’ general manager — will Henry Burris be back next year; will this be Trevor Harris’ team in 2017; and of course, what about the league-high 31 pending free agents?
Oh, the 31 pending free agents. Some big names, too. Greg Ellingson. Chris Williams. Abdul Kanneh. The list goes on…
Picking up the pieces for the 2016 champs is an unenviable task for the 18-year CFL executive heading into his fifth off-season in charge of the expansion REDBLACKS, but not one he hasn’t seen before.
“We were pretty close last year to getting the Grey Cup and we still had some tough decisions to make roster-wise,” Desjardins told reporters in the weeks following a stunning 39-33 upset win over the 15-2-1 Calgary Stampeders in the Grey Cup in Toronto. “That’s the nature of the beast.
“We can’t get complacent,” he added. “There are going to be tough decisions to make across the board. It’s about trying to keep as much of this roster intact as possible.”
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The 2016 REDBLACKS, if you recall, were much different than the 2015 rendition of the team, and it wasn’t necessarily by choice.
Keith Shologan, Colin Kelly, Jovon Johnson, Jeremiah Johnson, Justin Capicciotti, Shawn Lemon and Brandyn Thompson were among the key cogs on that team that ended up elsewhere this season.
While the offence stayed mostly the same other than the loss of then-offensive coordinator Jason Maas, the defence was without five starters when it took the field back in June.
The REDBLACKS adjusted on the fly and after some savvy maneuvers by the GM, the rest is history and Ottawa is your 2016 Grey Cup Champion. For that to happen again next year, similar moves will be required.
Seven of 12 defensive starters in the Grey Cup are pending free agents on Feb. 14. Two starting offensive linemen have expiring contracts. Three of the team’s four 1,000-yard receivers — a group that made CFL history by becoming the first quartet to reach such a milestone in back-to-back seasons — are also at risk of leaving.
Last year, when Desjardins knew free agency was going to hit hard, that didn’t stop him from being bold. That will be the key again this year, even if it means letting some popular players walk.
“We have to be aggressive in everything we do,” said Desjardins. “Just like when we went out and got [Trevor Harris] last year, we have to be ahead of the curve and just try to do things as best as we can to position our roster.”
Where do the 2017 REDBLACKS start?
Building from the top down, they aren’t in a bad spot to begin with. Head Coach Rick Campbell’s staff will return mostly intact, a rarity in the CFL of late and something Desjardins can take extra comfort in this off-season.
The return of Rick Campbell gives the REDBLACKS much-needed continuity in 2017 (The Canadian Press)
At the quarterback position, questions surround whether Burris will return and, if he does, whether he’ll start when the 2017 season rolls around. What we do know is Ottawa is solid at the position either way with Harris waiting in the wings.
From there, continuity in the receiving corps will be crucial. The influx of talent added to the position in 2015 helped Burris go from average to Most Outstanding Player. There’s a good chance the REDBLACKS will lose Chris Williams, an elite receiver who will demand top dollar despite coming off a season-ending knee injury. If he leaves, Greg Ellingson and Grey Cup hero Ernest Jackson need to be locked up.
On the O-line, both of the team’s starting guards in Nolan MacMillan and J’Michael Deane are up for free agency. Both have a Canadian passport while 2015 first overall pick Alex Mateas should be ready to start, making it hard to imagine both Deane and MacMillan returning in ’17.
At running back, Mossis Madu is a prospective starter under contract while William Powell, Kienan Lafrance and Travon Van are all free agents. The REDBLACKS could welcome all three back, including Powell, who suffered a devastating season-ending injury this year.
Then there’s the defensive side of the ball. Some speculate Abdul Kanneh is as good as gone as Kanneh is due for a big pay day, one that, if last off-season is any indication, Desjardins may not be willing to dish out.
Kanneh, Mitchell White, Antoine Pruneau and Forrest Hightower are all without contracts past Valentine’s day, leaving just one starter in the secondary guaranteed to return in Jonathan Rose. You can bet that Pruneau, a former fourth overall draft pick and a national, will be a priority among that group.
Taylor Reed and Jerrell Gavins are starting linebackers up for free agency and a 2017 return would make sense for both.
Aston Whiteside and Moton Hopkins are key free agent defensive linemen.
Cornerback Abdul Kanneh is one of four free agent starters among Ottawa’s DBs (The Canadian Press)
In football, very little remains static from year to year. That is certain to be the case for the REDBLACKS when they kick off training camp in Ottawa next spring with a much different roster than the one that won a championship this year.
But as some parts move, some parts stay the same. Desjardins seems to like very much the ones that will remain.
“We have to understand, we have the team on the field but we have teams off the field too, like the coaching staff, the personnel department and all those things go hand in hand,” said Desjardins. “So the more continuity and fluidity there is to that, the better off we’re all gonna be.”
Same situation, different day and not a minute of rest for Marcel Desjardins, who you can imagine is already hard at work on the 2017 Ottawa REDBLACKS.
