Changing roster means Stampeders must find new talent

CFL.ca Staff

CALGARY — The reigning Grey Cup Champions have some off-season work to do.

While free agency could change the look of the Calgary Stampeders – the team has numerous players that could hit the open market in February – they’ve also lost a handful of talent to the NFL this off-season.

Four Stampeders will be heading down south to try their hand in the NFL. Linebackers Alex Singleton and Jameer Thurman, defensive lineman James Vaughters and receiver Marken Michel won’t be back in red and white when the season kicks off this spring.

With those changes, the Stamps have their work cut out for themselves to find new talent to replace what they’ve lost.

Dave Dickenson is pictured during winter meetings in Mont-Tremblant, Que. (Graham Hughes/CFL.ca)

“At this point we have four guys headed down to the NFL,” head coach Dave Dickenson told CFL.ca in Mont-Tremblant in January. “I’m proud of that, to be honest with you. I think that shows you that we’re coaching them up, we’ve had success, our scouting and our personnel department did a great job finding these guys.”

Michel played in 11 games with the Stamps in 2018, hauling in 31 catches for 435 yards and five touchdowns. Thurman suited up in 17 games and collected 82 defensive tackles, 16 special teams tackles, two sacks, one interception and one forced fumble. Vaughters tallied 24 defensive tackles, two on special teams and five sacks in 16 games.

Perhaps the biggest void that will need to be filled with be that of middle linebacker Singleton. The 25-year-old led the CFL in defensive tackles with 123 and was a key piece of the Stampeders defence that sat at No. 1 in almost every statistical category.

But it’s not just Singleton’s talent that will be missed in Calgary, according to Stampeders general manager John Hufnagel.

“Obviously, Alex is a big part of our football team,” Hufnagel said in Mont-Tremblant. “He’s just a great teammate. (He’s) a good player, a great player, maybe a better teammate and his leadership will be missed and we wish him the best. If things don’t work out hopefully he knows where he was treated very, very well.”

With free agency just around the corner, Hufnagel faces a long to-do list. The biggest name on the Stampeders pending free agent list is that of star quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell. Mitchell has garnered interest in the NFL and the team has asked him for a decision by the start of free agency. If the veteran pivot decides to go down south, the Stampeders plan to pursue a veteran quarterback.

DaVaris Daniels, Kamar Jorden and Micah Johnson are just a few of the many names on the pending free agent list that had major impacts on the field in 2018, meaning Hufnagel and co. have a lot of work to do to either get those players to stick around or to start looking around for new faces as replacements.

“The players know that I want to sign the guys in our locker room as much as I can before I have to go shopping,” said Hufnagel, “But they also understand that if I have to go, I’m going.”

Follow CFL