Lionbackers.com

Gentlemen and Ladies, may I present the Free Agent Class of 2016....

http://www.tsn.ca/a-look-at-the-top-201 ... s-1.396314

Should we salivate or beat the rush and just throw our hands up in defeat now?

[Thread re-named -- Mod Staff]

I hope the Lions re-sign their own free agents. Retaining Harris, Arceneaux, Olafioye and Lulay (as QB coach or backup) would be a successful offseason and would provide veteran leadership to the newer Lions who showed promise this year. A rush end would be nice too.

Good looking free agent class. I'm not holding my breath on any high end free agents winding up in BC

Defensive end Willie Jefferson in Edmonton might be flying under the radar, not a lot of notoriety or press. But the guy has got great physical specs, I believe he is 6'5'' and has a massive wingspan to go with good speed and power. He caused all sorts of havoc to our O-line during the pre-season. Not huge numbers in terms of sacks as he got 6, the same as Craig Roh. But I believe he did a fair bit of rotating in along the Esk's D-Line so he may have played fewer downs as other defensive ends. Tristan Okpalaugo might the most prominent rush end available but might command a fair bit of attention.
I would love to see Ted Laurent in a Lions uniform. And while Eric Fraser was a pleasant surprise and a welcome addition to the secondary, Jermaine Gabriel is tough and plays very physical. Plus he is 3 years younger.

One name that may fly under the radar is Chris Matthews. Former Winnipeg Blue Bomber receiver. 6'5 227lbs. Just recently released by the Seahawks.

I do want Manny Arceneaux back, but having both he and Matthews in the lineup would give us a very dangerous pass attack, especially with how well Jennings can gun the ball.

Re-signing Jovon Olafioye has to be another top priority as well, maybe number 2 behind re-signing Manny.

Whomever we go after, let's keep it on the QT. Easily the dumbest thing this organization has done in the past 5 years - next to "Guaranteed Win Night" of course (that one stands on its own), was publicly naming all of the FAs they were going after in 2014.....only to have them all sign elsewhere:

Josh Bourke, Wayne Smith, Craig Butler, Ted Laurent etc.....the only guys we ended up with was Jamall Johnson (wife was from here) and Ricky Schmitt (no one else needed an import kicker). That whole "let's be open with our fans" stunt backfired worse than a Ford Pinto.


DH

David wrote:Whomever we go after, let's keep it on the QT. Easily the dumbest thing this organization has done in the past 5 years - next to "Guaranteed Win Night" of course (that one stands on its own), was publicly naming all of the FAs they were going after in 2014.....only to have them all sign elsewhere:

Josh Bourke, Wayne Smith, Craig Butler, Ted Laurent etc.....the only guys we ended up with was Jamall Johnson (wife was from here) and Ricky Schmitt (no one else needed an import kicker). That whole "let's be open with our fans" stunt backfired worse than a Ford Pinto.


DH

Johnson also has a physio therapy business out here, so there's also that lol.

I don't know that it was a bad thing they did it. Sure it backfired, but it shows they were trying to be innovative and let the fans in on what they were doing. I won't fault them for that. It didn't work, okay, show that you've learned from your mistakes and don't do it again. Last year they didn't do it so I think we can move on from that.

Would have been awesome if we landed all of those guys though.

Maybe the Lions named them to give the impression that they are trying to land them to please the fan base.

David wrote:backfired worse than a Ford Pinto.


DH

Getting a bit personal there David. I had a Pinto back in the day. It never backfired......or exploded.

TheLionKing wrote:Maybe the Lions named them to give the impression that they are trying to land them to please the fan base.

It's a funny thing the perception that goes with that sort of stuff. When they come out and drop hints they get ripped for being public and not delivering on bigger names. If they didn't say anything about who they were targeting they'd be getting ripped for not going after bigger names.

Hambone wrote:

David wrote:backfired worse than a Ford Pinto.


DH

Getting a bit personal there David. I had a Pinto back in the day. It never backfired......or exploded.

I had a Pinto too in the '70s. I wondered what all the fuss was about.

Wally takes some criticism for his honesty. If you ask him a question, he'll tell you what he thinks. I love people who give straight answers.

B.C.FAN wrote:

Hambone wrote:

David wrote:backfired worse than a Ford Pinto.


DH

Getting a bit personal there David. I had a Pinto back in the day. It never backfired......or exploded.

I had a Pinto too in the '70s. I wondered what all the fuss was about.

Wally takes some criticism for his honesty. If you ask him a question, he'll tell you what he thinks. I love people who give straight answers.

But he dance with the best of the politicians. He can talk a lot but doesn't say anything of substance.

The_Pauser wrote:One name that may fly under the radar is Chris Matthews. Former Winnipeg Blue Bomber receiver. 6'5 227lbs. Just recently released by the Seahawks.

I do want Manny Arceneaux back, but having both he and Matthews in the lineup would give us a very dangerous pass attack, especially with how well Jennings can gun the ball.

Re-signing Jovon Olafioye has to be another top priority as well, maybe number 2 behind re-signing Manny.

wouldn't put too much stock on matthews. He was cut by the bombers (worst team in league the last few years) due to drops and injuries after one good year in 2012. If you can't make the bombers ... u suck.

Kirk Penton of the Winnipeg Sun recently compiled an unofficial team-by-team list of potential free agents. It contains over 200 names, including 16 potential B.C. free agents:

B.C. (16)
WR Manny Arceneaux
CB Steven Clarke
LB Rennie Curran
*OL Kirby Fabien
*S Eric Fraser
*RB Andrew Harris
LB Alex Hoffman-Ellis
LB Josh Johnson
*RB Pascal Lochard
QB Travis Lulay
OL Jovan Olafioye
CB Cord Parks
RB Chris Rainey
DE Khreem Smith
SB Courtney Taylor
*OL Dean Valli
(* National)

Free agency full of happiness or headaches for GMs

The league has released its official list of free agents. There are 17 Lions on the list. Matt Norman is the extra name that wasn't on Penton's list:

B.C. (17)
WR Manny Arceneaux
CB Steven Clarke
LB Rennie Curran
*OL Kirby Fabien
*S Eric Fraser
*RB Andrew Harris
LB Alex Hoffman-Ellis
LB Josh Johnson
*RB Pascal Lochard
QB Travis Lulay
*OL Matt Norman
OL Jovan Olafioye
CB Cord Parks
RB Chris Rainey
DE Khreem Smith
SB Courtney Taylor
*OL Dean Valli
(* National)

2016 Free Agent Tracker