Cauz: Where will Wynton McManis play in 2025?

Matthew Cauz

CFL.ca

@mcauz56

This year’s crop of pending free agents is a who’s who of elite talent.

You have All-CFL players at every position, a potential franchise quarterback, some of the game’s best pass-catchers, and a couple of legendary pass rushers.

So many of them will impact the story of the 2025 season. I want to focus on one player who can be plugged into any defensive scheme and will immediately make a significant impact.

Toronto Argonauts linebacker Wynton McManis should be at the top of every team’s free agency wish list. That is the Captain Obvious statement of this piece, but what is not so clear is where he will end up. I have whittled down my McManis suitors list to five.

Sorry Winnipeg and Montreal, but you are both stacked on defence, giving him to you would be like Juan Soto signing with the Dodgers. Also, Ottawa, you plucked Adarius Pickett from Toronto last year, it would be downright rude if you again depleted the Argonauts of another high-impact player.

HAMILTON TIGER-CATS

The statistical case for McManis: Hamilton finished dead last in points allowed.

If there is one thing Hamilton loves to do during this time of year, it’s sign former Toronto Argonauts defenders. In 2023 Jamal Peters, DeWayne Hendrix and Brandon Barlow all made that soul crushing drive on the QEW from BMO Field in Toronto to Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton. What better way for new general manager Ted Goveia to introduce himself to this inter-provincial rivalry than by taking the heart of Toronto’s defence?

Goveia comes from the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, a team built with All-CFL defensive talent at all three levels. With 34-year-old Bo Levi Mitchell bouncing back in a big way, Hamilton is in must-win-now mode and McManis is a player who has done a ton of winning. Wynton’s experience would be a huge boost for a young linebacking crew including rookie fifth-round pick Ryan Baker, who had a productive first year.

Who better to break the league’s longest Grey Cup winless drought than a man with three Grey Cups to his name and was an absolute wrecking ball in the 111th Grey Cup?

EDMONTON ELKS

The statistical case for McManis: Edmonton finished dead last in yards allowed.

Most of the focus last season was on the entire McLeod Bethel-Thompson / Tre Ford dynamic and for good reason, that was a wild storyline. Throw in the firing of Chris Jones and it can be easy to overlook the fact that the Elks defence was the number one reason for the team’s losing record.

Not only were they last in yardage but they also finished at the bottom in average yard per play given up. The team is going with Ford at quarterback after he signed an extension through 2027 last week, and what better way to help with this young man’s development than with a defence he can trust?

It can’t be easy for any quarterback when in the back of their mind they know they need to put up close to 30 points for a chance to win. Signing the two-time All-CFLer also provides insurance in case the team loses either Nyles Morgan or Derrick Moncrief to free agency.

CALGARY STAMPEDERS

The statistical case for McManis: Calgary finished dead last in turnovers created.

The Argo linebacker is a walking turnover creating machine. Whether he is picking off quarterbacks, forcing fumbles, or deflecting passes, if there was a big play by the Argonauts defence there was a good chance that Wynton played a part in it.

Dave Dickenson already made the biggest off-season splash with the trade for Vernon Adams Jr., why stop there? Calgary missed the playoffs for the first time since 2004, which was also the last time this organization finished with a losing record in consecutive seasons.

Dickenson recognized the team needed a facelift and he has done that on offence. The signing of McManis would do the same for the other half of the field. A one-two linebacker punch of Cameron Judge and McManis would make life miserable for opposing receivers working over the middle of the field.

One final reason; the last time Calgary won a playoff game was the 2018 Grey Cup over the REDBLACKS, a game in which McManis recovered a fumble. See, I told you this man specializes in turnover creation!

BC LIONS

The statistical case for McManis: BC finished dead last in quarterback pass efficiency.

The last time we saw the Lions, Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Trevor Harris looked rather comfortable completing 26 of 32 passes in a 28-19 Western Semi-Final win over BC. Did Zach Collaros look at ease in the pocket against the Argonauts defence in the Grey Cup?

Looking at the current BC linebackers, McManis would be a perfect fit as he would give this group that true All-CFL level playmaker to compliment a solid group. The team has some young productive linebackers in rookie Ayinde Eley and second year boundary man Ryder Varga, who had a massive jump in production this past year. Ben Hladik’s numbers took a hit after a remarkable 2023 due to injuries, but he is just on the cusp of being an All-CFL player. With Boseko Lokombo coming off a shoulder injury and is a pending free agent, bringing in Wynton, who is at the peak of his powers, only makes sense.

TORONTO ARGONAUTS

The statistical case for McManis: Toronto finished first in 2024 Grey Cup wins.

Really? The man who helped short circuit the Bombers passing attack, who has been a part of a team that has gone 42-16 in the regular season and post-season during his three-year run with the Argonauts is suddenly going to leave?

The infrastructure is set up where not even all those free agent losses or the Chad Kelly suspension/injury could derail this team from winning it all. From Pinball Clemons to Ryan Dinwiddie, the foundation is set for another serious run in 2025.

Wynton is the soul of this defence and while Toronto is destined to lose some talented parts, the loss of this Swiss Army Knife linebacker would be a massive hit for this team’s chances to repeat.

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