O'Leary: 5 dream free agency pairings

Chris O'Leary

Senior Writer

@olearychris

We have a long way to go before Free Agency 2025 officially gets underway on Feb. 11 at noon ET.

That’s not a bad thing. Part of the fun of free agency is letting your mind wander and seeing where players could end up. Maybe there’s a receiver that you’ve always liked, who has felt like he’s on the verge of a breakout season in the right circumstances. Maybe it’s a quarterback whose style of play meshes in an offence you’ve long admired. Maybe it’s a heart-and-soul-type linebacker (we see you Wynton McManis and Jameer Thurman) that you can envision sparking your team’s defence, elevating them from contender to Grey Cup champion.

The big splashes in free agency are always fun — and there’s some of that below — but so often through the CFL’s long winter, a championship team comes together with one of those puzzle piece-type signings, where its impact isn’t fully felt until teams get on the field and teams start to separate themselves.

Here are four signings that I think could be dream pairings, with one that would at least be fun to see happen.

THE VA RECRUITING FIRM

Could Vernon Adams Jr. lure some talented former teammates to him and the Stampeders this off-season? (BCLions.com)

This has been touched on a couple of times on this site lately but it can’t be overstated. Vernon Adams Jr. has a long list of former teammates that will seemingly forever sing his praises. Let’s look at just a couple of high profile pending free-agent receivers as possibilities for the Stamps.

Pat Steinberg looked at this in his MMQB column this morning, but the idea of landing Justin McInnis in free agency is eye-poppingly good. Sure, a National who led the league in receiving last year would come at a hefty price, but there is a proven chemistry there that could help turn the Stamps’ fortunes around. Not to mention the depth that the receiving corps would have, with Reggie Begelton — a 1,000-yard receiver himself — in the mix, while we wait to see how many of the Stamps’ pending FA receivers come back.

Another familiar face with an elite pair of hands that you could consider here is Eugene Lewis. VA and Lewis lit it up in Montreal together in 2019, where Lewis enjoyed the first of what’s turned out to be three 1,000-yard seasons in his career. Putting another top-end receiver into the mix in Calgary with Begelton would be the makings of a scary receiving corps in Cow Town.

JANARION GRANT’S RETURN TD TOUR

The 2024 Most Outstanding Special Teams Player had a sensational 2024 in Toronto, registering four return TDs for the Argos and adding one in the Eastern Final against the Montreal Alouettes. We’re sure the Argos will do everything they can to keep him in Double Blue in 2025, but hear me out on this.

From his four seasons in Winnipeg through to his move to Toronto for 2024, Grant has been a yardage and touchdown-scoring machine. What if he took his talents on a cross-Canada tour next season and suited up for the BC Lions? Under new head coach Buck Pierce, Grant would have a familiar face to work with and would bring his considerable return talents to a team that could have used it this past season. The Lions were one of three teams that didn’t score a kick or punt return touchdown. If the Lions’ offence can get back to what it was with Nathan Rourke under centre in 2022, having someone like Grant to routinely set them up with a short field could make them a very dangerous team in 2025.

A HOMECOMING FOR MATHIEU BETTS

Homecomings are often a big theme for players in CFL Free Agency. Over his two-plus seasons with the Lions (he suited up in seven games for them in 2024 after exploring NFL options), Betts has established himself as one of the top National players in the league. Considering the likes of Brady Oliveira, McInnis, Rourke, Tre Ford and many others, that’s really saying something.

The idea of Betts returning to his native Montreal to suit up for the Als is a storybook idea. The Als — or any team for that matter — could use Betts’ talents and ratio-friendly status. Remember that before he headed to the Detroit Lions last winter, Betts racked up 18 sacks and four forced fumbles in 2023. In that short showing of seven games in 2024, he had two sacks, an interception and a touchdown. At 29, Betts is in the prime of his career and with a full off-season to focus on the CFL, will likely be back in the race for the sack lead in 2025. Als’ GM Danny Maciocia always keeps an eye to Quebec-based talent. If Betts wanted to make a move in free agency, Montreal could make a lot of sense for him.

MATT SHILTZ MOVES UP THE QEII

Could Matthew Shiltz be a perfect fit with Tre Ford in Edmonton? (Kevin Udahl/CFL.ca)

The Elks made a huge off-season move to wrap up last week, signing Tre Ford to a three-year extension, ensuring that he is the team’s No. 1 quarterback. McLeod Bethel-Thompson and Dakota Prukop are pending free agents, while Jarret Doege remains on the roster. There may be more established names that you could talk about here, but Matt Shiltz just might be the perfect fit to play that backup role that Ford will happily vacate. Shiltz is a CFL veteran, having spent time in Montreal, Hamilton and last season in Calgary. He knows the league well and has seen the field a good amount through his seven-year career. His last two seasons in Hamilton, he ended up playing in both of the Ticats’ playoff appearances.

Ford has spent his CFL existence working his way into the top spot in the QB room. Getting a player with more starting experience, like Bethel-Thompson, Jake Maier or even a Cody Fajardo in as the backup may not provide the fit that the locker room could need. While Shiltz signed in Calgary looking for an opportunity to start, he could have a great fit in Edmonton, where he could help Ford ascend into the upper echelon of CFL starting QBs and can serve as a reliable backup if called upon through the course of the season.

FAMILY REUNION SIGNINGS

If you look through the list of pending free agents, you’ll see there is a lot of family out there that’s currently heading into the open market. Wouldn’t it be something if you could get them all together?

Tyrell Ford is the obvious name that jumps out on the list. A 26-year-old National cornerback, he pulled in seven interceptions in 2024, finishing second in the league behind Most Outstanding Defensive Player winner Rolan Milligan Jr. With his brother Tre already extended in Edmonton, the Alberta capital would have to be the landing spot for a mass family reunion project. Say you get the Fords together. You’d then have to get Justin and Jordan Herdman-Reed — already teammates in Saskatchewan — over to the Elks.

Then there are the Lokombo brothers, Bo in BC and Nelson in Saskatchewan. From there, you have the Onyekas: Kene in Ottawa, and Godfrey and Kosi in Saskatchewan. Godfrey and Kene are brothers and Kosi is their cousin. That leaves one other sibling duo in flux here. Jalen Philpot is a pending free agent, but his brother Tyson signed an extension with Montreal last year. To pull off the ultimate family reunion(s) scenario, we’d need Jalen to sign and then try to get Tyson to force a trade out of Montreal, where the two receivers would attempt to balance out what is otherwise a very defensively-heavy string of signings.

True, this is a next-to-impossible kind of signing, but the article does say dream pairings and there should be room for weird dreams, too.

O’Leary: 5 dream free agency pairings

Jimmy Jeong/CFL.ca