Geoff Robins/CFL.ca
Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! I know today is the quintessential definition of a “Hallmark Holiday” and can legitimately be a difficult 24 hours for people coming out of bad relationships or still looking for the right person. We’ve all be there.
So, let’s take out the messy emotional minefields that come with February 14 and instead focus on something far more important: the wild flurry of free agency action that has been going on since lunch.
Seriously, you have to keep your head on a swivel just to follow all the who is going where and for how long. As I write this, my girlfriend is on a plane heading to Mombasa, Kenya to visit a school she helped build through her non-profit charity (Yes, she is a better person then me) so I am alone this Valentine’s Day to break down what this day is all about.
Instead of moping, staring at a candle with a depressing glass of champagne, I’m going to embrace the spirit of this day and put out my list of the best matches between free agent and their new team. They may not end up being “matches made in heaven” but on paper on this day they look pretty enticing.
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» Alouettes sign QB Cody Fajardo to two-year deal
» Heading to Riderville: Trevor Harris signs with Saskatchewan
» East To West: Lewis touches down in Edmonton
Taylor Cornelius and his three new receivers
Now that is how you overcome the loss of last year’s leading receiver Kenny Lawler! For Edmonton to truly take that next step offensively, the conversation needs to be less about how good Cornelius is as a runner and more about him as a passer.
Eugene Lewis has gotten better each year since his breakout 2018 season with Montreal. It is a guarantee that the East Division’s Most Outstanding Player in 2022 will do all he can to get the most out of Cornelius. Just look at Trevor Harris in Montreal having his best statistical season since 2018 playing along side the three-time CFL East Division All-Star.
Speaking of East All-Stars, Steven Dunbar Jr. just nabbed his first honour after hitting a 1,000 yards receiving right on the nose. At worst, Kyran Moore represents excellent depth at a position now loaded for coach Chris Jones to play with.
Cody Fajardo gets a new home and some protection
Cody Fajardo is now a member of the Montreal Alouettes, signing a deal with the team on Tuesday (Matt Smith/CFL.ca)
The time had come for a breakup between Cody and Saskatchewan. I’m not saying things had gotten so bad in Regina that Roughriders management broke up with their former quarterback of the future by text, but after 2022 I think we all agree it was best these two went their separate ways.
The next step is for Jason Maas and the Alouettes coaching staff to get Cody back to his peak from that we all saw in 2019 when he helped lead the Riders to a West Division crown going 13-5 and throwing for over 4,300 yards. For a quarterback who led the league in sacks taken, the acquisition of All-Star centre Justin Lawrence should go a long way in making Fajardo feel comfortable in his new football home.
Jovan Santos-Knox teaming up with Lorenzo Mauldin IV
I have no doubt during his Hall of Fame playing days Barron Miles could pull off a backflip on the field and I imagine he’s doing the same thing as the defensive coordinator for the Ottawa REDBLACKS. On one level you have the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player wrecking havoc at the line of scrimmage and if any opposing running backs or quarterbacks gets past Mauldin, there will be the league’s second-leading tackler in Santos-Knox ready to clean up.
I remember Lorenzo single handily beating half of the BC Lions offensive line to take down Vernon Adams Jr. and Santos-Knox was a big reason team’s could not run on the Hamilton Tiger-Cast last year. Throw in the addition of defensive back Cariel Brooks and you now have play makers on all three levels of Ottawa’s defence.
Micah Johnson and Larry Dean hooking up to wreck the West
From the producers who brought you ‘Santos-Knox and Mauldin IV’ comes the rom-com sequel everyone in Saskatchewan has been waiting for.
He was a linebacker who triumphed over injury to reclaim his spot as one of the game’s most dangerous defenders. He was a menacing defensive lineman looking to make his way back to the land of Green and White after having his productive pass rushing season since 2018. Together, they’re going to turn around a once proud defence that fell to third last in offensive points allowed.
Coming this Summer to the Prairies it’s ‘Micah and the Dean.’ (Okay, we have to workshop the title, but you get the idea.)
The obvious romantic pairing of Trevor Harris and Jake Wieneke
Jake Wieneke signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders after hitting the free agent market (Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca)
I know that in 2022 Harris had a better relationship with Eugene Lewis than he did with Wieneke but that’s in the past. Now the Roughriders’ new quarterback can rekindle his connection with the CFL’s most dangerous receiver in 2021 when Wieneke led the league in touchdown receptions and yards per catch.
Harris’ quick decision making should assist an offensive line looking to bounce back after a disastrous 2022 campaign and Wieneke’s big play ability will create space for every other receiver on the field. Keeping with this theme of quarterback/receiver relationships, there should be a dangerous love triangle with Kian Schaffer-Baker on his way back to Mosaic after the NFL window closed. It’s fair to say Coach Craig Dickenson’s offence will look much different in 2023.
Love is a battlefield in Toronto
I have no idea what the quarterback position is going to look like in June, but I do know that opposing quarterbacks aren’t going to be thrilled taking on the Double Blue. Before free agency had kicked off, Toronto had brought back All-Star linebacker Wynton McManis (three sacks, two interceptions and one forced fumble) to a defence that led the league in turnovers created.
Now the chaos-o-metre is going to be flipped up a notch with the signings of now former Montreal linebacker Adarius Pickett (four sacks to go with a matching set of forced fumbles and fumble recoveries) and star-in-the-making defensive linemen Folarin Orimolade. I could quote you his stats but instead allow me to quote one of the smartest in the business, Blue Bombers broadcaster and former TSN colleague Derek Taylor who Tweeted this soon after the Orimolade signing: “one of just a few guys I would have backed up the money truck for. League leader in QB pressures in 2022. I’d bet on double-digit sacks in 2023.”
The power couple in Winnipeg
Let me be the first (and most likely the last) to dub newly signed receiver Kenny Lawler and Dalton Schoen (same fate as Schaffer-Baker with the NFL window having closed) the Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez of the CFL. Between them they combined for 128 catches, 2,335 yards and 19 touchdowns in 2022 and that was with Lawler missing a third of the season with injuries.
I was going to say that perhaps Zach Collaros is also doing backflips but at 34, I would recommend he keep himself grounded and watch what beautiful things the three of them can all create this upcoming season.
