Lionbackers.com

Update:

Ed Hervey reported on Sekeres & Price Show that Jefferson is wanting $300,000. Too rich for Lions blood. Hervey suggested too much for him to pay.


My gut feeling says yes, despite no rumours out there Lions want him. Lions want to improve their DL and looks like they will move on from Willis, Lemon & Menard. But my fear is Lions will outbid teams for his services and pay him close to $300,000. If they do they will have 3 players taking up 25% of the cap or more.

I really do not know who Hervey's No 1 target is? But I just have a feeling it is Willie Jefferson.

What do you guys think?

Rather have Micah Johnson coming off a down year and Lemon re-signed to fill 2 d-line positions than overspending on Jefferson. Reilly's salary is already costing us another quality starter ($170,000-$190,00) elsewhere, compared to Harris and Fajardo's deals among others.

I hope Jefferson is Hervey’s No. 1 target. The Lions have been busy signing rookie defensive end prospects. They need at least one stud DE, and Jefferson is the best free agent on the market. I was hoping the Lions would offer him something in the neighbourhood of $180,000 a year for three years, plus a $60,000 signing bonus. That’s a $600,000 package, with 10 per cent guaranteed up front. I don’t know if that would be enough to land him. I doubt the Lions can afford to offer any more without cutting Sukh Chungh, and I don’t think Hervey is prepared to do that.

I doubt BC Fan that Jefferson will sign for less than $200,000. He will want to be the highest paid DE in the league and right now I do not know who that is or the salary he gets. Does anyone know?

I think Jefferson will be shooting for the moon and I expect him to want more than $200,000 and I feel that is too rich for the Lions. Hervey needs to build a competitive team, not a team of a handful of high price players and going cheap in other areas. I personally don't have much faith in Hervey, but hope he learns from his mistakes from last year and does not repeat them. Otherwise, it will be another long season.

Report out there today says Solly will be moving on from the Riders and wants a lot more money and Riders not prepared to meet his demands. If Solly wants a lot, better believe Jefferson will want more. I say he will sign for at least $250,000 and hope Lions don't sign him for that much. $200,000 I am ok with, but more, no.

I'm not overly high on Johnson. I don't know if last year was truly a down year or a sign of inevitable decline. I do know Rider fans were quite disappointed in him but maybe their expectations were too high. He was coming off a career year in 2018 with Calgary with his 14 sacks beating his previous high by 5 (50%). Yet his tackle numbers were only 2 less than in 2018 and in 2 fewer games. Regardless when a guy has a career year at 30 caution should be exercised in thinking he can meet or beatit in the future. Interestingly in the back-to-backs against BC in July he recorded bagels in all categories. He didn't play in the 3rd game versus BC.

As for Jefferson he just turned 29 while Johnson will be 32 when the season starts. Jefferson was working out for some NFL teams but it's been crickets for a couple weeks on that so maybe that dream is over.

Jefferson only worked out for Miami and refused to work out for others feeling his game tape was enough. After that, I heard no more news on his NFL dream and now is back headlining the CFL free agent market. I think his refusal to work out for other NFL teams turned them off him for they wondered why he had such a big ego for a guy who has never played even 1 NFL game.

JohnnyMusso wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:15 pm

Jefferson only worked out for Miami and refused to work out for others feeling his game tape was enough. After that, I heard no more news on his NFL dream and now is back headlining the CFL free agent market. I think his refusal to work out for other NFL teams turned them off him for they wondered why he had such a big ego for a guy who has never played even 1 NFL game.

Jefferson may just be tired of the politics, being in the right place at the right time, and run around that is involved with getting to play in the NFL, especially given his age (a negative for a NFL rookie) and the sheer amount of CFL film of his dominate play, which many in the NFL don't really value anyway.

Seeing lots of love for Willie across the league and for good reason. He plays an unconventional style for DE in that often he steps back to create separation and uses his wing spqn to cut off about 1/3 of the QB's field of vision. Probably half of his sacks came from the QB stepping up to evade pressure where Willie's is waiting to pounce. Worked well for the Bombers.

While his sack number is big, his tackle number is low. Ja'Gared Davis had better numbers for likely less money. Different style of game though so hard to compare. Jefferson also dependent on strong linemates to complement his game. Drake Nevis stuffing the middle was huge and he should be recognized for the player he is.

I think the Bombers will pay up and would love to see Ed Hervey run up the bid and dump him on the Bombers ala Sukh Chungh. Careful not to get caught holding the bag though. I could see the Bombers paying in the $250,000 range.

Craig Roh played well for Wpg. and is a FA. Tristan Okpalaugo (only 30) did not play last year because of money rather than ability. He was a beast the year before just behind Bighill as a disruptive force.

Key point for me is that without a strong middle it can free up blockers to help outside. One works well because of the other. Lets see how it goes. I would not chase WJ.

DanoT wrote: ↑

Tue Feb 04, 2020 8:00 am

JohnnyMusso wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 03, 2020 9:15 pm

Jefferson only worked out for Miami and refused to work out for others feeling his game tape was enough. After that, I heard no more news on his NFL dream and now is back headlining the CFL free agent market. I think his refusal to work out for other NFL teams turned them off him for they wondered why he had such a big ego for a guy who has never played even 1 NFL game.

Jefferson may just be tired of the politics, being in the right place at the right time, and run around that is involved with getting to play in the NFL, especially given his age (a negative for a NFL rookie) and the sheer amount of CFL film of his dominate play, which many in the NFL don't really value anyway.

Jefferson's age would make him a long shot for an NFL offer. He's 29 as of last Friday. I think Chris Edwards is the oldest CFL player to get a deal this year and he's 2 years younger than Jefferson. Edwards turned 27 on Dec 23. Unless I missed somebody everybody else who landed a deal is 26 and younger. To land a deal Jefferson likely had to show something exceptional in his workouts.

Bring back Sol E and Jefferson wouldn't hurt either but they'd have to use him like he was used last year.

Jeffereson's reported 2019 salary was $210K. So, $250K is not out of sight for a DE and DPlayer of the Year. I think that Jefferson brings a good motor, "great breadth" and would be a definite upgrade for the Lions. However, I do not see Jefferson fitting into the Lions cap space.

As Murdoch and others have pointed out, he works best as a complementary piece in a rush. Either Jefferson takes up 2 blockers off the edge, and allows inside pressure to rush the QB, or the inside pressure frees Jefferson to beat the opposing tackle off the edge. So if you pay him $250K, you have to have a stud inside pressure lineman which also will cost big bucks. And you need a great middle linebacker to fill in. Lots of moving parts to fit together... equals lots of dollars...

Will be interesting to see how it shakes down.

CFL.ca speculating 5 teams are in on Willie J.

Sounds like big money being offered with the Bombers having last chance knowing the other bids. Willie does his own negotiating as well.

In other news, Bombes just re - sign JFG.

For the sake of the CFL I hope this doesn't go to $300,000. Maybe Bombers get him a job with Bighill and hand over another key to the city.

I stay away. Play the %54,000 global and hope for the best.

Dave Naylor of TSN is now saying six teams, including the Lions, have reached out to Jefferson. He says Ottawa, Edmonton and Saskatchewan are the only teams not involved. Naylor says Jefferson prefers to return to Winnipeg but Toronto has cleared cap space and is rumoured to be making a strong pitch for him. It's hard to see the Lions offering more than $200,000 a year without major cap implications but Ed Hervey paid top dollar last year for Mike Reilly and Sukh Chungh. He could get a much bigger bang for his buck by dumping Chungh and transferring his $250,000 a year cap hit to Jefferson.

Countdown to CFL free agency: Latest on top pending free agents on the defensive line

I'm losing a bit of faith in Hervey as a brilliant talent scout. Since arriving in BC, it sure seems he's put too many eggs in the Reilly basket, then one guy on the Oline and a new HC he didn't really interview in DC to find out how he planned to run his team.

Hervey is reminding me too much of amateur GM Kavis Reed in always trying to pull that one rabbit out of a hat.

Who'd have brought in Danny O'Brien as the SOLE backup to play while Kraemer with some upside didn't much dress for games and hasn't had a sniff. Meanwhile in others news, Fajardo from BC gets a starters role but even before that he has involved. Arbuckle got prep time too before he had to start and and or course Evans with the Ticats. Now we got last year's back up who never threatened to come in and take over for the starter when he was getting killed as QB coach and no experience.

You can pass on Sol E , fine but it was how he did it that was rubbish.

You have to bring in the pieces that will fit into a team, not just individuals.

Letting nik lewis go sure ran against the grain of what I saw last year at practice. He should have encouraged his latest HC to meet him.

Jefferson had an awesome year in a DEF that allowed him to do what he did. Not sure BC will have that luxury given its team def personnel.