Risk vs. Reward: Evaluating the Collaros deal

Marshall Ferguson

CFL.ca

@TSN_Marsh

Whether on the playground, Kijiji or in the CFL, every trade comes with some form of risk and reward.

For the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Saskatchewan Roughriders, Wednesday’s trade of Zach Collaros to the West division displays a level of risk on both sides not seen since less than month ago when the Toronto Argonauts traded their 10th overall selection from 2016 in offensive lineman Mason Woods to the Eskimos for the right to woo quarterback James Franklin in hopes of signing.

In an off-season full of more theoretical guessing games and leaps of faith than many in recent memory, the Collaros move takes the cake.

The Ticats traded Zach Collaros to Saskatchewan on Wednesday for a 2018 second round draft pick (Matt Smith/CFL.ca)

While the Riders didn’t give up a tangible player as of yet, they did sacrifice the first pick of the second round in 2017’s CFL Draft. That is meaningful because the Riders own just two selections in the first 35 selections this May. The risk there is that injuries could strike a solid national core of players in Regina and having one less player to fill the void can leave coordinators in a difficult position on game day.

Of course, the great reward for Saskatchewan here is that the Riders may have found their man to lead Rider Green back to prominence for years to come. If Zach Collaros can play like he did in 2015, the Saskatchewan Roughriders will be an absolute offensive force in 2018 with Wilson footballs spinning high above the New Mosaic Stadium turf.

Should the now-former Ticats’ quarterback be more 2017 Collaros than 2015 Collaros, Saskatchewan will be saddled with a messy quarterback room full of missed potential and frustrated angst.

I watched Collaros with a fine tooth comb as Hamilton started the season 0-8 in 2017 trying to figure out where the explosive and decisive playmaker I knew to wear No. 4 in Hamilton had gone to. What I came away with was twofold. First, a Ticats offensive line unable to help in any way before making trades of their own for Tony Washington and activating tackle Ryker Matthews. Second and more importantly, I saw a quarterback whose lower body no longer powered his upper body power and accuracy or the natural no-doubt decision making Collaros has always possessed.

Will Collaros return to his previous form? I believe it all depends on that lower body confidence and trust in the pieces surrounding him.

For the Tiger-Cats, the great risk here is that they just let go the most successful single season quarterback they’ve know in years after an eight-game stretch full of multiple negative variables which do not alone rest at the feet of their now disbanded quarterback.

Was there blood on Collaros’ hands? Absolutely, but the move to Masoli and Head Coach June Jones was more a changing of the winds than a loss of belief in Collaros’ ability.

The reward for Hamilton comes in the form of increased national depth in a draft where they now have a whopping four picks in the first fifteen selections. The other obvious bonus is not having to pay a bonus. Collaros was reportedly due $200,000 in February and alleviating that monetary binding could allow the Ticats to attack their possible free agents with an enthusiasm yet to be shown so far this off-season.

There is no doubt both sides owned up to the possible risks and rewards before pulling the trigger on this deal and the reality is we won’t truly know which side of the ledger either team falls on for at least six months, maybe even longer.

Both teams could receive reward in a great Saskatchewan quarterback and a solid national player for the Ticats or both sides could experience the natural downfalls of risk in an underperforming Collaros and a bust at the 10th pick overall in Hamilton.

Only time will tell but the fact the trade was approved by both sides this early in the off-season clearly tells fans everywhere to stay tuned as more moves will result from the off-season transaction ball beginning to pick up steam.

Follow CFL