2021 CFL free agency

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B.C.FAN
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Hambone wrote:
Thu Dec 10, 2020 2:38 pm
If I was a betting man I'd wager Arndt gets signed ahead of Kraemer to give a vet presence behind Reilly. Barring injury and assuming we do get a season Reilly, Arndt and Rourke would break camp with the team.
Bingo. The Lions signed Arndt to an extension today for 2021. Reilly, Rourke and Arndt are all under contract. Kraemer is still a pending free agent.
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OV - 54:40 wrote:
Wed Dec 16, 2020 9:48 am
Herdman, Konar & Williams would not all be starting at LB (unless Williams has the speed to play SAM)
You will have to be more specific now that the Lions have 2 Jordan Williams signed to play LB this year. Lol. Maybe the Baylor Bear one will play SAM while the East Carolina one plays MAC.
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Ok so I wasn’t seeing things on Lions website. They signed Jordan Williams but not the same guy they drafted. I was wondering... that would be interesting of both guys make the roster.
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The Lions have extended DB Victor Gamboa through 2022. He was slated to become a free agent in February. Gamboa looked good in seven games played in 2019 and was projected to be a starter in the cancelled 2020 season.
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Hambone
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B.C.FAN wrote:
Tue Dec 29, 2020 1:36 pm
The Lions have extended DB Victor Gamboa through 2022. He was slated to become a free agent in February. Gamboa looked good in seven games played in 2019 and was projected to be a starter in the cancelled 2020 season.
Good to hear a bit more action emanating from Surrey
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Murdoch
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Seems like one year deals will be the norm again. Might be related to the CBA expiring.

Throw in the XFL option for 2022 and it is starting to look like a real circus in the making.
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Might have more to do with teams trying to operate at the cap floor this year and hope things will return to normal in 2022. Still there's no guarantee the cap would go up in the new CBA. It's entirely possible it goes down depending on the financial well being of the league then. Regardless the 1 year contracts are here to stay. No way the CFLPA will give that up and allow the CFL to be the only professional sports league in North America to control players rights for a minimum of 2 years regardless of how many years of service they have.
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Hambone wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 12:11 pm
allow the CFL to be the only professional sports league in North America to control players rights for a minimum of 2 years regardless of how many years of service they have.
Not sure I follow you on that one Hambone unless you are talking about the ELC and something like the TJ Jones situation (established NFLer, 1st time CFLer)

Looked to me like Edmonton just signed a couple of nationals to ELC's on 2 and 3 year deals. Vontae Diggs who played very well in 2019 and is one who would be thought of as a 2 or 3 year guy only gets a one year deal. Jemarcus Hardrick for Winnipeg is another.

I haven't heard of any new season ticket info but curious if tickets will be lower given the league saving on player salaries. I will be surprised if they are.
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Murdoch wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 5:14 am
Hambone wrote:
Fri Jan 01, 2021 12:11 pm
allow the CFL to be the only professional sports league in North America to control players rights for a minimum of 2 years regardless of how many years of service they have.
Not sure I follow you on that one Hambone unless you are talking about the ELC and something like the TJ Jones situation (established NFLer, 1st time CFLer)

Looked to me like Edmonton just signed a couple of nationals to ELC's on 2 and 3 year deals. Vontae Diggs who played very well in 2019 and is one who would be thought of as a 2 or 3 year guy only gets a one year deal. Jemarcus Hardrick for Winnipeg is another.

I haven't heard of any new season ticket info but curious if tickets will be lower given the league saving on player salaries. I will be surprised if they are.
I was referring to veterans. It wasn't until the current CBA and extension that veterans could sign a pure 1 year deal. Prior to that every contract; ELC or veteran, came with an option year attached. Minimum term available to veterans was a 1 + 1 with the team controlling the +1 part. All leagues seem to operate with multi-year ELCs but until the 2015 CFL CBA only the CFL denied players the right to sign a pure 1 year deal.

On the season tickets I'm pretty sure I received a 10% discount for rolling my 2020 tickets forward to 2021. Looking at the website a week or so ago it looks like people can secure seats with a $10 deposit with no obligation to pay further until they know there can be fans in the stands and no obligation to commit to a specific price bracket.

$10 Season Ticket Deposit Details
- Season tickets for the 2021 season start at $270.50 (based on availability)
- This purchase is a deposit on season tickets for the 2021 season, and you will select your specific seat(s) in the spring of 2021.
- Current Season Ticket Holders who have paid in full will retain first priority for seat placements in 2021.
- The final balance or the opportunity to go on a payment plan does not need to be completed until health regulations are confirmed and we have been given approval for fans to attend BC Lions games in 2021. We will contact you in regards to final payment options.
- In the event we are unable to accommodate fans for the 2021 season the deposit will automatically turn into an account credit.
- Once we receive approval to have fans at BC Place for the 2021 season a BC Lions Account Executive will contact you to select your season ticket location in the category of your choice.
- If purchasing for a Christmas gift, digital gift certificates are available.
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Murdoch
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Even though they say they are working together, there doesn't seem to be a lot of trust between the sides.

Given that no one sticks to the sms it would suit me fine if all players were available every year in a hockey draft style format. For all the years I participated it never got old going home after the draft with my new team for the year. First round tensions are laughable looking back and it was the late round picks that won it for you if you did.

You would find out who the good gm's are that way. Never ever going to happen.
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Murdoch wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 10:56 am
Even though they say they are working together, there doesn't seem to be a lot of trust between the sides.

Given that no one sticks to the sms it would suit me fine if all players were available every year in a hockey draft style format. For all the years I participated it never got old going home after the draft with my new team for the year. First round tensions are laughable looking back and it was the late round picks that won it for you if you did.

You would find out who the good gm's are that way. Never ever going to happen.
The most enjoyable hockey pool I was ever in was keeper pool involving salary caps, multi-year contracts, player auctions to set contracts and fill rosters, rookie draft, trades, reserve lists etc. It was a close to having to being a real GM as in any other pool I've ever participated in. Prior to that I was always in those annual drafts. Since I left that pool about 7 years ago I've never gone back to one of the old style pools. I just can't get into them after the intensity of the keeper pool.
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Hambone wrote:
Sat Jan 02, 2021 11:25 am
The most enjoyable hockey pool I was ever in was keeper pool involving salary caps, multi-year contracts, player auctions to set contracts and fill rosters, rookie draft, trades, reserve lists etc. It was a close to having to being a real GM as in any other pool I've ever participated in. Prior to that I was always in those annual drafts. Since I left that pool about 7 years ago I've never gone back to one of the old style pools. I just can't get into them after the intensity of the keeper pool.
Some people put more time into those pools than the effort deserved. Bragging rights were the main benefit. I am always surprised that the GM jobs pay so much given so many others do basically the same thing for fun. I'm sure you were scrutinizing injury reports.

Drafting a team of CFL players would be equally challenging. I don't think I could feel good about not getting a QB in the first two rounds but at the same time it would sure be nice to grab a couple of bookend tackles that nobody else gets to pick. Hard to say where a Brandon Banks would fit in.

Gut instinct tip for Rick McEvoy is to give Moe Leggett a call. His wife is an athletic therapist and he may be in shape. His big mistake was coming back early from his achilles injury for the sake of the team. Money won't be an issue and respect goes a long way. He was probably the best Bomber player for two or three years. His last play spin off tackle of Chris Rainey at the goal line was typical of his play. Don't believe Winnipeg will be interested although they should be.
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Murdoch wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:17 am
Some people put more time into those pools than the effort deserved. Bragging rights were the main benefit. I am always surprised that the GM jobs pay so much given so many others do basically the same thing for fun. I'm sure you were scrutinizing injury reports.
Injury reports were only a small piece. With 24 teams in our pool there could at any given time more than 700 players were on the roster of one poolie or another. Had to be paying attention to the number of games a player might have on his schedule for the upcoming week. You had to be constantly aware of who might be available on the pool waiver wire who might be an upgrade on one of your own. In that regard you had to pay attention to what players called up from the AHL might have been doing down there. Contract status was a factor to be considered for callups or waiving players. It wasn't all about points either. There were separate categories for goals, assists, PIMs, +/-, shots, hits, blocked shots and PPG. That was for the 12 forwards one had as active in a given week. Defencemen (6) had a slightly reduced list of categories. Somebody who might not provide much offence could still be a valuable contributor in other areas. For goalies it was only GAA. You had to have 2 goalies active and also had to ensure their minutes played combined for the equivalent of 75 GP or would face a heavy penalty applied to the GAA at the end of the season. There was in some ways a rudimentary analytics aspect to it.

Being a self-admitted stats junkie I loved it. I would spend hours and hours every week pouring over the stats analyzing them looking for possible trade opportunities and to make roster and callup decisions. I finally had to give it up when I returned to doing freelance contract work that had me out of town working 10 hour days 10 or 11 days in a row and living out of a suitcase. I just didn't have the time to invest in the pool that I felt was necessary to succeed and frankly I always enjoyed putting in.
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Murdoch wrote:
Sun Jan 03, 2021 8:17 am

Gut instinct tip for Rick McEvoy is to give Moe Leggett a call. His wife is an athletic therapist and he may be in shape. His big mistake was coming back early from his achilles injury for the sake of the team. Money won't be an issue and respect goes a long way. He was probably the best Bomber player for two or three years. His last play spin off tackle of Chris Rainey at the goal line was typical of his play. Don't believe Winnipeg will be interested although they should be.
Leggatt is pretty long in the tooth now. At 34 he'd be the oldest DB in the league; 7 months older than Crezdon Butler and 10 months older than Rico Murray. Next to Stanley Bryant he'd be the oldest positional player in Winnipeg and oldest DB by a couple years. The Bombers seem to want to be a younger team.

After Winnipeg he had a brief tenure in 2019 with Albany in the Arena League. He signed just in time for their final regular season game and played their 2 playoff games including their Arena Bowl XXXII victory. The league then folded. That the only football he's played since August of 2018.
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Theres going to be a few 34 / 35 year olds out there this year and they have all had a year off. Knowing the game and not having to rely on atoning with athleticism might be a wise choice. I've quoted Dave Ritchie before about first year players costing games.

Believe Moe was recognized as player of the game in the Arena league championship game. He was after the Bombers to give him a shot but they had no interest. Sad after he tore his achilles late in 2017. They resigned him and floated a rumour that he was dunking basketballs when he could hardly walk probably to help sell tickets. It wasn't until he didn't partake in drills at training camp when it became public news. It was incredible that he did what he did in 2018. That said, I have no idea if he is even interested or training.
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