Landry: Where we stand ahead of Free Agency

Don Landry

CFL.ca

@CFLLandry

I’ll say this for the CFL’s free agency negotiation window; opening it sure has allowed some fresh breezes in to snap us to attention.

With the knowledge that another gust could change things significantly today, tomorrow or this weekend, here are some thoughts on how those breezes are being felt across the league.

WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers get high marks for hanging on to a bunch of their key stars on both sides of the ball. They’ve made a habit out of that over the last few years, so it’s no surprise that the Bombers have been able to get extensions done for notables like Jackson Jeffcoat, Stanley Bryant, Jermarcus Hardrick, Kyrie Wilson, Alden Darby, Nic Demski, Jake Thomas, Winston Rose, Mike Miller and Janarion Grant.

Winnipeg takes top spot in the retention sweepstakes, so far, and gets high marks on the free agency splash scene, too, with the apparent luring of game-breaking receiver Kenny Lawler back into the fold after a year in Edmonton. For the Bombers, who also signed head coach Mike O’Shea to a contract extension this off-season, it’s more of the same and with their track record of recent years being what it is there’s nothing wrong with that.

TORONTO ARGONAUTS

The Toronto Argonauts have been, so far, rather quiet during this window week, not surprising if you are to take general manager Michael Clemons at his word. Pinball has said that he did not expect to be the garish free agency shopper that he has been the past couple of off-seasons. Wanting to follow the Winnipeg model, perhaps, he has locked up key returnees prior to them hitting the market. Receivers Kurleigh Gittens Jr. and DaVaris Daniels fit the bill in that regard, as do defensive anchors like Royce Metchie, DaShaun Amos, Wynton McManis and Grey Cup hero Robbie Smith.

With some big names still flirting with free agency, perhaps the Argos will get to work on retaining even more of their Grey Cup championship roster after this week provides information on what the market looks like for them, dollar-wise. That’s info that is good for all of the CFL’s nine teams, and I look forward to more announcements from across the country on players staying put after all. Now, the Argos need to get some clarity on their quarterbacks room. Is inspirational leader McLeod Bethel-Thompson back to help make a transition to Chad Kelly a smooth one?

SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS

The Saskatchewan Roughriders have been the darlings of free agency window week, so far, partly because of the names they have seemingly lured, partly because their off-season had been, up until recently, seen as rather uneventful (A bit of a bad rap, that, as the Riders had signed defensive backfield stars Rolan Milligan and Nick Marshall to extensions, as well as star running back Jamal Morrow). But that makes the reported agreement with Alouettes’ quarterback Trevor Harris even more dramatic, never mind that it’d be an impressive move at any rate, considering the proven veteran addresses the team’s number one need.

Need number two is ensuring that Harris, as fast on the draw as he is in the pass game, has enough time to set up shop in the pocket, so let’s all watch what Sasky does in free agency when it comes to beefing up their offensive line. They’ve already done a nice job in ensuring the D-line is looking good, in signing Pete Robertson and Anthony Lanier II to extensions, and getting linebacker Larry Dean to sign a new deal as well.

CALGARY STAMPEDERS

Reggie Begelton signed a new deal, keeping him with the Stampeders through 2024 in December (Thomas Skrlj/CFL.ca)

Over in Calgary, the transition from John Hufnagel to Dave Dickenson as general manager has appeared to be quite seamless and that is not a surprise to anyone familiar with the way the Stampeders have gone about their business for the last decade and a half. The Stamps had already gotten their 2023 plan in place when they traded the rights to quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell to Hamilton, and signed Jake Maier to an extension, last fall.

If they’ve been quiet during this pre-free agency week (as far as we know), they still did good works ahead of time by signing guys like Reggie Begelton, Cameron Judge, Derek Dennis, Zack Williams and Jonathan Moxey to extensions. Losing linebacker Jameer Thurman would be hurtful, but it’s not like the Stamps haven’t been raided before. They always seem to find players to keep them ultra-competitive, so I won’t be worrying about the Calgary Stampeders too much. Here’s a question: Now that they know how much the Hamilton Tiger-Cats have offered Thurman, will they make a counter-offer that gets him to stay?

OTTAWA REDBLACKS

The Ottawa REDBLACKS are kind of breaking my heart by courting Hamilton middle linebacker Jovan Santos-Knox. Avery Williams has been Ottawa’s middle linebacker for years, now and he has always performed incredibly well. For some unknown reason, he’s been chronically underrated. But Ottawa, it seems, is intent on new blood and, after all, Santos-Knox was named an East Division All-Star in 2022 for a reason. The REDBLACKS also have eyes, reportedly, for Hamilton battering ram running back Wes Hills.

After a dismal 2022 season, new faces at key positions are inevitable for Ottawa, and they need the juice. But still, REDBLACKS general manager Shawn Burke knew he had some terrific personnel on board despite a 4 and 14 record and he has done a nice job in bringing many of those faces back, led by the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in 2022, Lorenzo Mauldin IV, as well as electrifying returner DeVonte Dedmon. And the REDBLACKS made a big-time move when they nabbed offensive lineman Drew Desjarlais, the former Blue Bomber, on his way back from a stint in the NFL.

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

The Hamilton Ticats decided late last season what it was that they most needed in order to end the CFL’s longest current Grey Cup drought and it was quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. The ‘Cats get high marks for their patient, leak-proof pursuit of Mitchell, getting the veteran QB’s name on a contract two months after landing his rights in a deal. The Ticats’ unflappable, tight-lipped nature might have made more than a few Hamilton fans nervous, but, ultimately, it proved to be a prudent and successful course of action.

Now the ‘Cats have work to do to ensure Mitchell has the proper targets to work with and that would start with getting the team’s Most Outstanding Player from last season – receiver Tim White – to agree to stay. With all hands on deck in trying to secure Mitchell’s signature, the Ticats haven’t played the retention game as well as many others, at least when you take a quantitative look. If they were to get White to stay in black and gold, that observation would help change that would it not?

EDMONTON ELKS

The Edmonton Elks are an intriguing lot, with some loud noises this week, reportedly coming to terms with dominating All-Star Steven Dunbar Jr., currently under contract with Hamilton, and Saskatchewan’s speedy Kyran Moore, to bolster their receiving corps. And general manager/head coach Chris Jones was quick to pounce when the ‘Riders released defensive lineman A.C. Leonard last week, as he was when the BC Lions decided to move on from defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy.

And in the category of keeping your own, Edmonton did rather nicely in quality – if not quantity – in locking up defensive lineman Jake Ceresna before he could get a whiff of the upcoming market. Jones had hinted rather broadly, earlier this off-season, that the Elks would not be a big time shopper during free agency but I’m not sure I’m convinced of that. Actually, I think he said they wouldn’t be terribly aggressive and there is a difference, isn’t there?

MONTREAL ALOUETTES

At this point, there is a little to like about each team’s off-season and, yes, that even includes the Montreal Alouettes, who seem poised to lose their two biggest stars on offence in Harris and receiver Eugene Lewis. It’s understandable that GM Danny Maciocia has been quiet this off-season, what with questions around the ownership of the Alouettes keeping management from ordering “full steam ahead” in either retention or free agent window shopping.

However, it ought to be noted that getting monster defenders Tyrice Beverette and Wesley Sutton signed to extensions is no minor feat, and you could say the same for the likes of Raheem Wilson and Chandler Worthy too. A question – and it’s a big one – remains: Who’s the quarterback?

BC LIONS

The BC Lions, it looks like, have further dinged the Alouettes quarterback room, reportedly agreeing to terms with back-up Dominique Davis. Having been forced to look at life after Nathan Rourke, the Lions just recently solidified Vernon Adams Jr.’s status as the starter, signing the veteran QB to an extension earlier this week. With the retirement of the sublime Bryan Burnham, BC has a hole in their receiving roster that they’d like to fill and the rumour mill has them all around Eugene Lewis but they’re not the only ones.

If the Lions surprised us with the release of Loucheiz Purifoy – the CFL’s All-Star safety in 2022 – they did lock down another All-Star defender in Garry Peters, along with T.J. Lee, as well as Bo Lokombo. It seems the Lions will have some heavy-lifting to do when it comes to efforts to keep the likes of tailback James Butler, and offensive linemen Sukh Chungh and Joel Figueroa.

Did you feel that? Yeah, that’s probably yet another breeze (or a few), blowing in through the window in the time it took you to read this.

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