Kevin Sousa/CFL.ca
How do you go about following up a season that ended in destiny?
That’s the question Montreal Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia is tackling this winter. The Als completed one of the great championship runs in recent CFL memory when they rattled off eight straight wins culminating in a 28-24 win over Winnipeg in the 110th Grey Cup.
It’s a Grey Cup win that would be hard not to revel in for the weeks and months that followed. But that’s not part of the job description for a professional football GM. For Maciocia and Montreal’s football operations department, the page turned from last year ages ago.
“I think I can speak for a few including coach (Jason) Maas…we’ve definitely moved forward,” Maciocia told CFL.ca last week from the league’s president and general managers meetings in Nashville, TN.
“I would say (it happened) when that plane landed in Montreal from Hamilton, just driving Jason back to his place. So, we started to talk about what 2024 would potentially look like. And that’s why we were as active as we were bringing what I call the nucleus of our football team back. At the same time, obviously, we understand the certain obligations that come with winning a championship.”
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One of those obligations is trying to win it all again, which is far from an easy feat to accomplish. Just ask the team Montreal beat in last year’s championship game. But as the Blue Bombers have shown us, the quest for multiple Grey Cup wins is a worthy one. And, to their credit, Maciocia and the Alouettes have already started to get the band back together.
Yes, standout receiver Austin Mack won’t be returning after signing with the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons. But in extending pending free agents Darnell Sankey, Tyrice Beverette, and Shawn Lemon, Montreal has already retained three pillars of the defence that gave the entire league fits down the stretch.
And let’s also not forget how much more settled things are this winter compared to one year ago. The Als entered 2023 free agency before Pierre Karl Péladeau had taken over ownership of the team. That didn’t happen until March, which meant Maciocia was playing from behind compared to the rest of the league.
Not having those challenges in 2024 puts Montreal in an even better spot.
“It’s been very enjoyable,” Maciocia admitted. “This is what it should be like: where you wake up in the morning, you’ve got a job to do, and you attack that accordingly. Without the drama and the other distractions that go with it.
“We just adopted an attitude last year where we chose calm over chaos. And we wanted to just to be focused with the task at hand now. We all know where the focus lies now. There are more stories about the football team on the field than off the field. And that’s where the stories should be written.”
As defending champs, the Alouettes enter free agency this year looking to build on a foundation instead of trying to manufacture something from scratch. Montreal has a few key names that remain unsigned, including tailback William Stanback and defensive back Ciante Evans. But for the most part, their core group remains generally in tact.
In terms of additions, the loss of Mack presents an immediate need. The first year CFLer was named a league All-Star after finishing fifth overall with 1,154 receiving yards. But even still, it doesn’t sound like the Als are set to be major free agent players when signing season opens on February 13th.
“We’re not going to be as active as we were last year,” Maciocia said. “I just think we need a couple of pieces I would think. And you know, even those, I don’t even know how active we’re going to be as far as trying to pursue them. I think we need depth. So we’re going to try to identify some guys that we feel strongly about. And maybe have a couple of surprises.”
Montreal will look to repeat with a solid core. Quarterback Cody Fajardo was already under contract and got extended shortly after the Grey Cup. Sankey, Beverette, and Lemon are back on defence, while receivers Kaion Julien-Grant, Cole Spieker, and Tyler Snead are all under contract for 2024.
But after shocking the world last season, the Als will have their fair share of doubters as they enter a championship defence. For Maciocia, that might be exactly what the doctor ordered.
“I just want them to come back with the same chip on the shoulder that they had last year and definitely get after it. When you take a look at our season last year and our championship run, I would think you would classify it as a culture season. We want to maintain that culture and just add a few pieces here and there.”
