Yikes! Lions 2024 potential free agents

[Hambone]

Perhaps of bigger concern to Lionbackers and the Lions is the other news that just came out of Montreal. They just lost NAT DE Lwal Uguak to Tampa Bay of the NFL.

It's hard to guess if that means they have greater need for somebody like Betts or if the lack of other NAT DL depth for backup purposes softens the need. They only have 2 other NAT DL on the roster in Brock Gowanlock and Vincent Desjardins. Desjardins is a pending FA and Gowanlock is not to be confused with David Menard as a tag team partner to Betts.

Wow that is quite a development. I thought Uguak's promise, never mind his rookie contract too, would make the Als think long and hard about signing Betts. Now they have freed up about $165,000 of last year's cap space with Stanback's release.

Some interesting days ahead.

Still need to use at least $70K to replace Stanback's $160K at RB. I can't find any details but I suspect with the new two year extension he signed in December Fajardo will be making quite a bit more than his $371K hard money $425K max money he received in 2023. Lots of things turn into washes.

[B.C.FAN]

Rick Campbell and Neil McEvoy took questions from the media Tuesday about free agency. Campbell said the team's priority is to re-sign all of its free agents, including Mathieu Betts. Campbell and McEvoy both said they think Betts wants to be here. Campbell sounded more optimistic than McEvoy about re-signing him. McEvoy said a deal could be done immediately but the salary-cap implications would be untenable. Campbell said he expects to have one or two "new to the CFL" receivers in the lineup alongside the veterans who have been re-signed. McEvoy said he doesn't expect the Lions to be in the market for any big-name free agents from other teams.

Here are video links to their statements:

Campbell:


McEvoy:

[don corleone]

I don't think Montreal was going to put much effort into re-signing Stanback. After missing 13 games in 2022 and 4 more this year they have to be concerned about the injury factor and wear and tear that has him not quite the back he used to be.

If you don't like Carey and are not interested in Stanback be careful who your dance partner might be when the clock strikes 12.

Pros on Stanback are good size at 6'0" / 223 and still young at 29. His best three years are ahead of him. Unlike Jonathon Kongbo IMO. Capable blocker as well that appears to have chemistry with V.A. I see him as the guy that cracked off the 30 yarder to score in the GC and don't hold the broken leg from 2022 against him. Money will be the issue.

Great news on Josh Woods. Could be a little pepper on the tweet paid off.

[Hambone]

I don't think Montreal was going to put much effort into re-signing Stanback. After missing 13 games in 2022 and 4 more this year they have to be concerned about the injury factor and wear and tear that has him not quite the back he used to be.

If you don't like Carey and are not interested in Stanback be careful who your dance partner might be when the clock strikes 12.

Pros on Stanback are good size at 6'0" / 223 and still young at 29. His best three years are ahead of him. Unlike Jonathon Kongbo IMO. Capable blocker as well that appears to have chemistry with V.A. I see him as the guy that cracked off the 30 yarder to score in the GC and don't hold the broken leg from 2022 against him. Money will be the issue.

Great news on Josh Woods. Could be a little pepper on the tweet paid off.

For running backs 29 usually means their best years are behind them, not in front of them. If a RB's best years are ahead of him at 29 why are there so few of them in pro football? Go through any NFL roster and you will be hard pressed to find a running back who is 30 or older. There's always exceptions of course but even in the CFL those who are 30 and over are rare with most being depth players, typically Canadians who are used more on special teams than to lug the ball. Right now it's Thomas-Erlington, Harris, Augustine, Langlais, Power, Carey and Lafrance for guys with 29 in the rear view mirror. Harris is done. I list Langlais and Power only because Calgary lists them as RBs in their roster. Both have been in the CFL for 8 or 9 years and have 2 carries combined for their careers.

If one reads between the lines in the interviews with Campbell and McEvoy that BCF just posted it's safe to say BC won't be a player for any of the more expensive RB options or any of the more expensive options for any position. I suppose if Stanback was willing to take a 50% haircut on his 2023 salary to get him down around $80K then maybe BC could be interested. Biggest priority remains keeping their own guys. That is likely followed by adding a CFL experienced veteran QB. As they say things have to fit. If they want to put aside money for an expensive RB option like Carey or Stanback it will be at the expense of somebody like Hladik or Betts or Edwards-Cooper.

[Toppy Vann]

I can't see the Lions brain trust all of a sudden thinking they need a new RB when they've made it clear that Smoke is going to be even better in the second season and the OC and HC don't believe in a run game so it's unlikely they'd spend more in that position and go after the ilk of Brady Oliviera or AJ Ouellette or Javon Leake who mostly ran back kicks. I think the latter two didn't sign in the NFL - yet. Actually, those guys going FA are likely just using the FA route to make more where they are unless it was NFL.

Stanback could still sign back with the Als as he got his release early at his own request. Most teams these days in the CFL want to be known as player friendly and meeting this request is a smart thing to do.

This article by John Hodge lists Lucky Whitehead as no. 7 here in FA Receivers.

2024 CFL free agent rankings: receivers


https://3downnation.com/2024/01/30/2024 ... receivers/

[Hambone]

Add Tibo Debaillie to the list of Lions returning for 2024. This guy has just been solid ever since coming over from Edmonton.

https://3downnation.com/2024/01/30/b-c- ... debaillie/

[Hambone]

I can't see the Lions brain trust all of a sudden thinking they need a new RB when they've made it clear that Smoke is going to be even better in the second season and the OC and HC don't believe in a run game so it's unlikely they'd spend more in that position and go after the ilk of Brady Oliviera or AJ Ouellette or Javon Leake who mostly ran back kicks. I think the latter two didn't sign in the NFL - yet. Actually, those guys going FA are likely just using the FA route to make more where they are unless it was NFL.

No they haven't signed in the NFL - yet. Given Uguak just signed today we can't assume those doors are closed for others........which could include Betts.

[Toppy Vann]

Farhan and Naylor on FAs including Betts and below this an article outlining BC GMs' media talk.

https://www.tsn.ca/cfl/future-of-mathie ... -1.2069639

"There is no point of no return. It's fluid, it's ongoing," McEvoy said about a potential deadline for negotiations with Betts.

"We will spend those resources with Betts and everyone else. In the salary cap world, you're not spending to the minimum, you're spending to the max."

McEvoy acknowledged the risk that the Lions could miss out on potential replacements if negotiations with the lineman go down to the wire.

[SammyGreene]

Twitter: Farhan Lalji TSN
The Woods deal is around 125k for the coming season. Surprisingly team friendly IMO. Restructured Lokombo deal at similar numbers. Doesn’t close the door on a potential return for Hladik, but I expect him to explore options. BC also very high on Varga

Hladik's name didn't come up in that very informative presser with McElvoy and Campbell. Sounds similar to Betts in the Lions have a price in mind to bring him back but not to Hladik's liking as of now.
His position is a stat machine when it comes to tackles that can inflate a player's value and perhaps that's the Lions' thinking here and they don't want to over pay.
They also watched Woods look very good playing the position in the Western Semi.

And crazy to think Hollins is nearly making double to Woods on their new deals. Has the price for quality receivers ever soared thanks to Lawlor and Lewis hitting FA the last two seasons.

[don corleone]

For running backs 29 usually means their best years are behind them, not in front of them. If a RB's best years are ahead of him at 29 why are there so few of them in pro football? Go through any NFL roster and you will be hard pressed to find a running back who is 30 or older. There's always exceptions of course but even in the CFL those who are 30 and over are rare with most being depth players, typically Canadians who are used more on special teams than to lug the ball. Right now it's Thomas-Erlington, Harris, Augustine, Langlais, Power, Carey and Lafrance for guys with 29 in the rear view mirror. Harris is done. I list Langlais and Power only because Calgary lists them as RBs in their roster. Both have been in the CFL for 8 or 9 years and have 2 carries combined for their careers.

If one reads between the lines in the interviews with Campbell and McEvoy that BCF just posted it's safe to say BC won't be a player for any of the more expensive RB options or any of the more expensive options for any position. I suppose if Stanback was willing to take a 50% haircut on his 2023 salary to get him down around $80K then maybe BC could be interested. Biggest priority remains keeping their own guys. That is likely followed by adding a CFL experienced veteran QB. As they say things have to fit. If they want to put aside money for an expensive RB option like Carey or Stanback it will be at the expense of somebody like Hladik or Betts or Edwards-Cooper.

Respect and admiration for the willingness to back up your perspective with numbers but in this case they don't tell the entire story.

Any CFL team should be so lucky to sign a 29 yr old Andrew Harris to give a point or two to my argument that a back needs time to mature and understand the game to become a true presence and contributor on a top team. The minor drop in athletic ability is outweighed by increased knowledge of the game. Reading the D and knowing what to do is a good thing. Ten other things have to line up as well including an O line that works well together.

Odds are stacked that Manny is done but hard to argue he did not impact the team in a positive way during his time in Edm. Kudos to him as well for being out there looking to keep going. Can't bring him to camp though because he wil win a job and there are only so many snaps to go around with the new guys needing all they can get.

As far as it goes I thought Shaun Shivers showed well when he was in and may have upside. The fact he did not stick around long tells me there was something they did not like.

Need a receiver until Keon Hatcher gets back look to Cam Phillips.

Need a corner if Cooper-Edwards moves on try Money Hunter.

[Hambone]

I tend to agree with both Rick and Neil when they say their top priority is to get their own priority pending FAs under wraps. If they achieve that goal there won't be any money left to pursue anybody resembling a vet CFL starter. If they do have the money for that it's because they failed to meet their goals with their own FAs. The best sign of a good team is one that build from within and only dabbles in free agency for depth and maybe because they have a very distinct need they just can't fill internally.

As Neil said they are unlikely to do much coming out of the chute on Feb 13 when the bigger name FAs get snapped up quickly. He said they're more likely to get involved on Day 2 which is to say some depth signings. For instance I could see them looking for an upgrade over Petermann for a backup NAT receiver behind Cottoy and McInnis. For Americans they have holes to fill with Rhymes departure and Hatcher's injury but I think they are also quite happy with what they have in the likes of Pearson, Way and Eberhardt plus some very intriguing "new to the CFL" receivers. Pearson and Way were very impressive in 2023 TC before injuries and numbers kept them off the field. They very much could be BC's next Hatcher or Hollins who also spent considerable time on the PR caught up in the numbers game before injuries opened up a spot for them. I don't think they see any need to chase a receiver in free agency outside of a depth NAT.

Personally I don't get all that hung up at viewing the pending FA list like I used to view the Eaton's Christmas Wish Book when I was a kid. I know that come Christmas morning aka Day 1 of free agency a lot of pages will already be torn out. I maintain a spreadsheet on the pending FAs and track the numbers by team, position, NATs vs all FA's etc. So far this offseason the CFL is ahead of last year's pace for re-signing. 5 or 6 days ago we were at around 31% already extended compared to 24% in 2023. We're at around 42% as of this afternoon. Last year 21 players extended with their own clubs between the time the legal tampering window opened and when they'd officially become FAs.

Neil and Rick do have the utmost confidence in Rigmaiden's team to provide the sort of "new to the CFL talent that would mitigate the need to dip into free agency. It could be argued they failed at RB last year but nobody can deny how well they've performed in particular with receivers and players for the secondary. I'm confident they will deliver again this offseason reducing the need for the most SMS-unfriendly form of player acquisition, free agency.

[Hambone]

Just looking at last year's stats for Mizzell, Stanback and Carey.

In 14 games Mizzell ran for 773 and 3 TDs and had 291 receiving yards with 1 TD and 1 catch and run of 30+ yards.

In 14 games Stanback ran for 800 yards and 2 TDs and had 241 receiving yards for 1 TD and 1 catch and run of 30+ yards.

In 9 games Carey ran for 476 yards and surprisingly 0 TDs and had 156 receiving yards with 0 TDs and 0 catch and runs of 30+ yards.

Add it up and Mizzell as a rookie was the most productive of the 3 by a thin hair over Stanback. Would it make sense for BC to give up on him and spend another $50K or more extra for a veteran in decline? What I did appreciate about Mizzell is that he was much better than was expected at helping out in pass protection given his size. The thing with helping up with that isn't size but rather the smarts to read the play. You don't need to totally block the rusher out as much as just get in the way or chip him out to buy the QB that extra half second or second. I think there is also an untapped explosiveness there that bigger backs don't have.

[Toppy Vann]

Hambone: I tend to agree with both Rick and Neil when they say their top priority is to get their own priority pending FAs under wraps. If they achieve that goal there won't be any money left to pursue anybody resembling a vet CFL starter. If they do have the money for that it's because they failed to meet their goals with their own FAs. The best sign of a good team is one that build from within and only dabbles in free agency for depth and maybe because they have a very distinct need they just can't fill internally.

Often a big FA signing looks great on paper like Kenny Lawler with the Elks two years ago but it turns out you're weak in other areas and can't get the big bucks player the ball.

Good to put the Mizzell stats into context. The other reality for a RB is how, when, why and what they're doing in their run game that can lead to success. My preference for a run game is a back like Oliviera or Ouellette and a Mizzell type but in BC's running game, both the Brady O and Aj O would get ordinary results. Those type need to be in offences like they are now.

[B.C.FAN]

Chris Streveler has reportedly signed a one-year contract in Winnipeg for $120,000, so he is off the market.

[Toppy Vann]

Not sure if there should be a separate thread for other team's FA deals and new signings and keep this to BC FAs only.

In the absence of that I see on 3 Down Nation my first go to resource for each day's CFL stores as I know something new will always be there the Bombers have signed Chris Streveler and Dru Prukop is still a FA.

I didn't see this coming but maybe the Bombers staff and scouts have seen a lot of growth in Streveler's abilities even though he was not playing much down south. I have no idea if just getting into the NFL pension plan pays well but he's got that. Maybe longevity is not his concern in that plan.

Suggests that Prukop isn't moving up to no. 2 or that now he'll really will try to go elsewhere or stick it out as he lives in WPG where it sounded like he wants to live even though he did venture south to get some playing time there.

He’s back: Winnipeg Blue Bombers sign QB Chris Streveler
By John Hodge -January 31, 2024

https://3downnation.com/2024/01/31/hes- ... streveler/