DerekDD wrote:i call them allstars because thats what they are not make up crap the way you do. check the allstar roster the last few years. no one is even close to having the same amount of allstars the lions have had. it has nothing to do with jealousy its a plain fact that you are not aware of it seems.
the most allstars with the fewest problems with the cap? anyone can smell a rat. i have news for you. its always been about the money and somehow these allstars are getting it and remaining happy despite the cap.
The main reason the Lions continue to defy your logic is they continually are proactively turning their roster over, particularly at the upper age bracket. More than any other CFL GM Buono seems to have grasped the concept of succession planning. It's valuable in the business world and applicable to the world of sports. Building from within will always be the most cost effective way to assemble a team. By doing so players "grow up" and develop within the organization and prefer to stay with the organization, if it's a winning one, as opposed to going elsewhere for more money. Conversely free agency is the most expensive way to build a team as you will always have to pay a premium to land a coveted free agent and in some cases grossly overpay for the value you receive. Of the 9 BC Lions who were named 2007 CFL All-Stars only Geroy Simon and Ian Smart had played a CFL game with another organization and 5 of the 9 were only in their 2nd CFL season and aside from Murphy still on their initial CFL contract.
There are other things Buono tends to do, moreso than others I believe, that have a positive impact on cap space.
1) He's not afraid to allow very good veterans depart even if they still have some productive years left. If he has a younger player developed to the point where he believes they are ready to move into a starting role he's not afraid to let the higher priced veteran go.
2) When signing rookies he almost always insists on and signs them to minimum 2+1 deals. If the player turns out to be a "keeper" they get him at a relative bargain for at least 2 years. Think Cam Wake and Aaron Hunt.
3) When dealing with option year players trying to land an NFL deal he rarely will try to sign them to an extension until after they've exhausted that possibility. Then he's effectively competing with the CFL market as opposed to the lure of NFL money.
4) The Lions generally avoid the free agent market unless they have a very specific need to fill as they did when the landed McCallum.
People keep asking how the Lions always keep their all-stars yet with only 1 full season having transpired since the the Lions won the 2006 Grey Cup 10 players have already departed from that team including starters Dave Dickenson, Bobby Singh, Ryan Thelwell, Mark Washington, Carl Kidd and Chris Wilson. Also gone are Nautyn McKay-Loescher, Markeith Knowlton, Sebastien Clovis and Kendrick Jones. And only 9 starters and 10 players total remain from their Grey Cup losing team of 2004 with other notables such as Antonio Warren, Barrin Simpson, Cory Mantyka, Casey Printers, Frank Cutolo and Chris Brazzell having departed. In 2004 BC placed 8 players on the West Div All-Star team and 3 on the CFL All-Star team. 4 of those 8 West All-Stars are long gone as is 2 of the 3 CFL All-Stars.
I think what makes it seem like they "always keep their all-stars" is the quiet manner in which the ones they don't keep disappear. Other teams seem to always be having release or cut players. It's purely semantics but when a sports media outlet announces that a team released or traded a player it always reverbates through the CFL fanbase much louder than someone retiring or signing on with another team. Most of the aforementioned Lion departures were due to retirement or simply being allowed to slip away quietly as free agent signings with another team, almost slipping under the radar so to speak. As for next year I think it's reasonable to assume that just like every year under Wally there will be some more "all-stars that BC always keeps" who will quietly depart unnoticed by all the Lion salary cap conspiracy theorists.
You're as old as you've ever been and as young as you're ever going to be.
