CFL Free Agents/Coaches

[Mr Dee]

Gary Lawless, through TSN, has come up with a Free Agent list through talks with GMs, players and agents, this is what has been provided and there are a few dandies on this list. Keep in mind, it's unofficial and quite a few of these names will sign with their respective clubs before Free Agency, if a deal hasn't already been agreed upon.

(24) BC - Bassie, Elimimian, Iannuzzi, Yell, Burnham

(29) Calgary - Derek Denis, Bakari Grant, Hughes, Cordero Law, Quinn Smith

(26) Edmonton - Devon Bailey, Lacey, Marcus Howard

(28 Hamilton - Emanual Davis, X Fulton, Terrance Toliver, Rico Murray

(30) Montreal - Cash, Jourdain, Klassen, Venable, Lewis

(32) Ottawa - Deane, Ellingson, Hightower, Jackson, LaFrance

(28) Saskatchewan - Foster, Fuller, Willie Jefferson, Jeff Knox Jr

(29) Toronto - Coombs, Ellsworth, Durie, Owusu-Ansah, Kenny Shaw

(21) Winnipeg - Adams, Bass, Hurl, Denmark, McDuffie

The full list is here: http://www.tsn.ca/list-of-pending-cfl-s-free-agents-1.620485

 

 

Edited December 1, 2016 by Mr Dee

[Nash00]

If the Jackson for Ottawa is Ernest, for the love of Stegall sign him now!

[bustamente]

So Ottawa has 32 free agents and just won the Grey Cup, guessing the line up has started for those that want to get paid. 

[Taynted_Fayth]

I hope Charleston Hughes tests FA, even if just for a year or 2, him and Westerman on the ends would light it up. 

[Tracker]

Historically, every year we get our hopes up and then.......nothing. Or nearly nothing.

[Eternal optimist]

2 hours ago, Taynted_Fayth said:

I hope Charleston Hughes tests FA, even if just for a year or 2, him and Westerman on the ends would light it up. 

We should pry Jabar Westerman from B.C. for the sheer confusion of having the Westerman/Westerman combo.

[BBlink]

Hope we can sign Darvin Adams but if we can't then try for Burnham Ellingson or Jackson. Elimimian would also be a no brainer if he hit the market

[Mark H.]

A DB like Hightower who can give you press coverage without drawing flags...

 

[JCon]

1 hour ago, tracker said:

Historically, every year we get our hopes up and then.......nothing. Or nearly nothing.

Except of course for Harris.

Oh, and Medlock.

And Dessler. 

And Smith. 

And Shologan. 

And, oh yes, Cummings. 

[bearpants]

I think the biggest thing is waiting till February to see how many guys actually become FAs... that being said, speculation is fun... I'll take one Elimimian, one Westerman (in addition to the one we already have), a Coombs and Ernest Jackson... thanks...

[Bigblue204]

 Elimimian, Law and Westerman would be nice. But like others have said this list will look much different come 2017.

[JCon]

Let say Coombs remains available... where does he fit?

[BBlink]

7 minutes ago, JCon said:

Let say Coombs remains available... where does he fit?

He would be a pretty versatile player for us given we start a Canadian RB. It's a lot easier to fit good Canadians on a roster than the international players

[MOBomberFan]

10 hours ago, JCon said:

Except of course for Harris.

Oh, and Medlock.

And Dessler. 

And Smith. 

And Shologan. 

And, oh yes, Cummings. 

Not to mention Stanley Bryant and Nick Moore, arguably the top free agents in 2014 and 2015. 

[JCon]

30 minutes ago, BBlink said:

He would be a pretty versatile player for us given we start a Canadian RB. It's a lot easier to fit good Canadians on a roster than the international players

But if you're Walters, how do you convince Coombs to come here? Back-up RB and versatile Jack-Of-All-Trades? That's not to appealing.

[Tracker]

12 hours ago, JCon said:

Except of course for Harris.

Oh, and Medlock.

And Dessler. 

And Smith. 

And Shologan. 

And, oh yes, Cummings. 

That was a very rare binge.

[TrueBlue]

Looks like there could be some significant receiver turnover in Ottawa.

[JCon]

4 minutes ago, tracker said:

That was a very rare binge.

I agree it was a binge but Walters has targeted and signed some top free agents over the past few years. As mentioned MOBomberFan, Bryant and Moore were signed previously.

There's no reason to believe, in my mind, that Walters will not be trying to fill some holes.

Of course, there are fewer holes to fill now.

[17to85]

17 hours ago, bustamente said:

So Ottawa has 32 free agents and just won the Grey Cup, guessing the line up has started for those that want to get paid. 

The reality is that when you have that many 1000 yard receivers chances are you're not keeping them together long term because they're all going to want to get paid like 1000 yard receivers. Be interesting to see what happens with that team next year for sure. 

[Tracker]

27 minutes ago, JCon said:

I agree it was a binge but Walters has targeted and signed some top free agents over the past few years. As mentioned MOBomberFan, Bryant and Moore were signed previously.

There's no reason to believe, in my mind, that Walters will not be trying to fill some holes.

Of course, there are fewer holes to fill now.

Overall, with a couple of exceptions, Walters has to be the best GM in terms of recruiting we've had in a dog's age. Since we really do not know how good Dominique Davis might be and Bennett is gone, we do not know how effective the QB search has been. When they hired McManus as scout, I hoped that he would be better at this than he's shown to date. The other needs seem to be defensive end and middle linebacker, but we do not know if O'Shea looked at who we have and said that it was good enough, so a possible mulligan there.

Edited December 1, 2016 by tracker

[BBlink]

3 hours ago, JCon said:

But if you're Walters, how do you convince Coombs to come here? Back-up RB and versatile Jack-Of-All-Trades? That's not to appealing.

I think Coombs understands his versatility and how that can lead to being on the field quite a bit.  If he ends up being the best NI receiver on our roster, then that's his starting position, backing up at RB for Harris.  He's also a Winnipeg boy, which may or may not make being here a plus for him.

[mbrg]

3 hours ago, JCon said:

But if you're Walters, how do you convince Coombs to come here? Back-up RB and versatile Jack-Of-All-Trades? That's not to appealing.

Same role, different city.  Except that city is home.

Edit:  That was the short answer.  The longer answer is Walters doesn't have to.  Either the idea is already in Coombs' head and he goes to free agency or it isn't and he re-signs in Toronto before free agency.  Walters has to decide if we want Coombs if he goes to free agency.  Lochard didn't suck when he filled in, his performance was well beyond what I expected.

Edited December 1, 2016 by mbrg

[DR. CFL]

The luxury Ottawa has is they have been in the Cup the last 2 years and just won it. Playoff $$$$. They host next season's Cup. And look at the QB rosters and instability in the East going into 2017 and they might have another easy road into the Cup again.

[DR. CFL]

PS.....they better solidify their O line as well. They have FA o linemen with either visions of the NFL or big coin and are already at a disadvantage playing with 3 Internationals in terms of the ratio.

[Mr Dee]

Why are there this many players becoming free agents? Because they got rid of the option Year contracts. Agents and players now can go elsewhere in pursuit of the big bucks. 
But, that may only work for the top end players...a dozen maybe?
The rest of the players will go to whomever has the best SMS in place ie. those teams who can afford it. They got what they wanted but fail to recognize that there still is a salary cap in this league and it isn't very much, considering all the factors. 
Darryl Davis points out in his column that fans are the ones who will notice the most. 
Pick a favourite player? Yeah, well, he may be gone next year. 
This will work for the better players, but there will be a glut of 'secondary' level players, and these will see only marginal increases in salary, if that. 
Some may see decreases.
In time, we'll come to see if it worth it for all concerned.

As Davis says..bring back the option-year clauses.

It would be the perfect gift for CFL fans at this time of year. Call it...the santa clause.