Reilly vs. Messier?

[Belize City Lion]

Will the Michael Reilly era with the Lions be remembered about as fondly as Canuck fans remember Mark Messier?

Now let me say up front I am no fan of Messier. Never was. Not when he was an Oiler, or a Ranger, or a Canuck. But like most Vancouver sports fans I originally bought into the hype that Messier was going to be the player the Canucks needed to reach the promised land.

I am a Michael Reilly fan. A fan of the type of person he is, his leadership, and his level of play over most of his career. I liked Michael Reilly as Lion, as an Eskimo, and was thrilled when he rejoined the Lions. But to say I have been disappointed with the results we've seen over the last two season would be a massive understatement.

I'm not putting the blame necessarily on Reilly, but when 1/7th of your salary cap is spent on one player, you have to question if Reilly was such a wise investment. Personally, I think the Lions overspent at QB and left too many other holes unfilled. That's on management. But it doesn't change the fact that the Lions have nothing to show for having Michael Reilly as QB for two seasons, and the end of the "Reilly era" might be two games away.

So, if this is it for Reilly and the Lions… will history remember Reilly's return to BC as a disaster on par with the "Messier era" of the Canucks?

[DanoT]

I was never a fan of the Lions signing Reilly to a huge contract and we have seen a huge number of rookie starters as a result. Some of the rookies have played pretty well and so there is a big potential upside down the road as they gain experience.

For next season I think the Lions should renegotiate Reilly's contract downward in a major way and if he does not agree, then release him. OTOH Reilly can point to decent QB stats including 300yds in his most recent loosing effort but that just proves that stats are for losers and since becoming a Lion, Reilly has a horrible loosing record. Maybe Reilly should retire while he still has a shot at making it to the HOF as he is clearly past his prime.

[B.C.FAN]

It’s a fair comparison. I was never a Messier fan, and he was well past his prime when the Canucks brought him in, but the hype machine was cranked up and we bought into it by putting a giant photo of him on the front page of The Province under the headline HE’S OURS. He never lived up to the hype.

Reilly is a hard-working, talented and gutsy player whose best days are also behind him but he is a high-character ambassador for the team. I’d prefer to see a lot more of Rourke for the next year but I’m not sure that he’s ready to be a full-time starter. Given that Reilly has already taken a sharp pay cut of at least $150,000 for the final year of his contract, I expect him back for one more year, and that would probably be the best decision for marketing purposes.

[Luck1sOnOurSid3]

Will the Michael Reilly era with the Lions be remembered about as fondly as Canuck fans remember Mark Messier?

Now let me say up front I am no fan of Messier. Never was. Not when he was an Oiler, or a Ranger, or a Canuck. But like most Vancouver sports fans I originally bought into the hype that Messier was going to be the player the Canucks needed to reach the promised land.

I am a Michael Reilly fan. A fan of the type of person he is, his leadership, and his level of play over most of his career. I liked Michael Reilly as Lion, as an Eskimo, and was thrilled when he rejoined the Lions. But to say I have been disappointed with the results we've seen over the last two season would be a massive understatement.

I'm not putting the blame necessarily on Reilly, but when 1/7th of your salary cap is spent on one player, you have to question if Reilly was such a wise investment. Personally, I think the Lions overspent at QB and left too many other holes unfilled. That's on management. But it doesn't change the fact that the Lions have nothing to show for having Michael Reilly as QB for two seasons, and the end of the "Reilly era" might be two games away.

So, if this is it for Reilly and the Lions… will history remember Reilly's return to BC as a disaster on par with the "Messier era" of the Canucks?

Does Reilly take up that much of the salary cap after the pay cut he already took?

[Coast Mountain Lion]

It didn't help that the Messier signing coincided with the hiring of Mike Keenan as coach. Both were an extremely bad fit with the team (okay, Keenan was arguably a bad fit everywhere he worked), and probably with each other too. No comparison with Reilly.

[JohnnyMusso]

There is no way Reilly can be brought back for another year. He has been a disaster here and don't see him being marketable after 2 bad years. Nothing will change is year 3 and Lions just burning another year for likely the results will be the same. All this constant talk that they can still make the playoffs if they win out and Calgary loses all its remaining games is a pipe dream. They don't deserve to make the playoffs. Their record is a poor 4 and 8 and a 6 and 8 team making it is ridiculous. I don't know what the new owner will do but just changing the OL coach is not enough. Major changes need to happen. With coaching cap and Lions I think paying Claybrooks for another year, may influence they keeping Campbell for another year. But Lions look worse under him than Claybrooks. If Claybrooks deserved to be fired than Campbell must be let go too. His bone headed decision is not recruit a decent kicker and just give it an afterthought is unforgivable. Lions will have a hard time marketing this team and bringing back Campbell and Reilly is not going to do it. Lions have to look long and hard at Reilly and release him. I would prefer if somehow they could get their hands on either Masoli or Evans, but one may want out. Blaming the headsets for the loss is just an excuse. They were not going to win anyways and have lost what 5 or 6 in a row now. As for Messier, he ran Trevor Linden out of town. Reilly has done none of that. However, due to his big contract they released too many good players lack year for they could not afford them. Reilly does not even deserve the $300,000 or so he is making. Time for Lions to move on.

[Belize City Lion]

Somehow I think Reilly will be more fondly remembered than Damon Allen. I mean all Allen ever did was QB the Lions for 7 seasons, become the CFLs' all time passing leader, throw for more yards and more TDs than any QB in Lions history, and win a Grey Cup. But for some reason he is despised by a lot of Lions fans.

[TheLionKing]

Reilly's contract need to be restructured again so the Lions have the money to address areas of weakness. He certainly hasn't earned the money he's currently making. If it means cutting Reilly, so be it. He's 35 years old. How many teams will be interested in signing a quarterback who's best years is behind him ?

[Coast Mountain Lion]

Reilly's contract need to be restructured again so the Lions have the money to address areas of weakness. He certainly hasn't earned the money he's currently making. If it means cutting Reilly, so be it. He's 35 years old. How many teams will be interested in signing a quarterback who's best years is behind him ?

Exhibit A: two posts up from yours. Allen, D.

[SammyGreene]

Big fan of Michael Reilly the person but are we just flushing away the 2022 season as well by riding out his contract?

What will it take to be any different? New OC (Maksymic is his guy)? Completely rebuilt o-line with at least 3 starters gone?

I also totally get Rourke needs more time and another year of Reilly gives him that.
But what about releasing Reilly, signing Dane Evans for $300,000 for a Evans/Rourke 2022 tandem and reinvesting the Reilly savings ($275,000) on 2 other FA starters?

[dtrain]

I made this comparison privately last season, but never brought it up as I have a lot of respect for Reilly as a person, and wanted to give it another season.
I agree the team needs something major to happen to win back fan confidence, another disastrous season will at least reveal to the new owner that this is obviously needed, my guess is he either gives the current GM/coach 'one more season' to turn it around, or just goes ahead and cleans house right way, starting with the President's position.
Would love to see Travis come back and be involved, but I highly doubt that would ever happen now that he's moved his clan back home.