2021 CFL Free Agency

[Bigblue204]

I won't be surprised if there are some big name vets cut before the season by TO.

[TrueBlue4ever]

10 hours ago, Brandon said:

Why do I have a feeling that we will see at the end of the season the report where Toronto was fined for going over the salary cap....

Why would Toronto or any team care? The penalties for violating the salary cap are weak, and the potential profit for a (normal) championship team would more than offset the cost. If the league wants to have a cap with teeth, then basically refuse to allow contracts to be registered once a team exceeds the cap and then the team can’t have the player, simple as that. 

[JCon]

3 hours ago, M.O.A.B. said:

There's no way they can keep all their off-season signing before the season starts (if there will be a season). Something has to give. 
I think the MO for Pinball this off-season is to make a buzz, to make the Argos significant at the news (somehow). 
They'll sort it out, once the training camp/season starts.

Looks like John Murphy moved the Riders' taxi-squad from Regina to Toronto.

Give 'em the old razzle dazzle
Razzle Dazzle 'em
Give 'em an act with lots of flash in it
And the reaction will be passionate
Give 'em the old hocus pocus
Bead and feather 'em
How can they see with sequins in their eyes?

[SpeedFlex27]

13 hours ago, Noeller said:

 

 

Sure Toronto is middle of the pack. **** them. 

[CodyT]

5 hours ago, Jpan85 said:

And they picked up Jameer Thurman this offseason

For some reason that name reminds me of a long forgotten bomber wr... mid 2000s

Anyone remember?

[TrueBlue4ever]

19 minutes ago, CodyT said:

For some reason that name reminds me of a long forgotten bomber wr... mid 2000s

Anyone remember?

Andrae Thurman 2006

https://www.statscrew.com/football/stats/p-thurmand001

[wbbfan]

5 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

I won't be surprised if there are some big name vets cut before the season by TO.

Honestly aside from judge their FA pick ups could be the over-the-hill-gang. A bunch of guys who played in the nfl which means high talent level but not necessarily skill sets that will transition well to the cfl game.  Judge and speller are the two young good pick ups of their off season. And both the ol and dl will see an insane amount of roll over. GL to them having any continuity with that.

[Bigblue204]

11 minutes ago, wbbfan said:

Honestly aside from judge their FA pick ups could be the over-the-hill-gang. A bunch of guys who played in the nfl which means high talent level but not necessarily skill sets that will transition well to the cfl game.  Judge and speller are the two young good pick ups of their off season. And both the ol and dl will see an insane amount of roll over. GL to them having any continuity with that.

I thought this, BEFORE they signed Bear woods lol. I mean they could be really dangerous if the CFL only plays 9 games. Any more than that and their 6 game is gonna be full!!!!

[SpeedFlex27]

Bear frigging Woods. My Gawd. 

[SpeedFlex27]

Saw a tweet today that said Ricky Collins has retired. Here's a story that goes into detail about his leaving football. It seems teams don't want to pay for quality receivers anymore unless you're Derel Walker & he got no calls after he was released. He was owed $30,000 signing bonus but was released before the Esks had to pay him which left him feeling bitter. Edmonton has turned into a joke of an organization since a new President as well as GM Brock Sunderland took over. Pissing off players & fans alike. He would have looked good in a Bomber uniform. 

Edited February 28, 2021 by SpeedFlex27

[Colin Unger]

13 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Saw a tweet today that said Ricky Collins has retired. Here's a story that goes into detail about his leaving football. It seems teams don't want to pay for quality receivers anymore unless you're Derel Walker & he got no calls after he was released. He was owed $30,000 signing bonus but was released before the Esks had to pay him which left him feeling bitter. Edmonton has turned into a joke of an organization since a new President as well as GM Brock Sunderland took over. Pissing off players & fans alike. He would have looked good in a Bomber uniform. 

I don't think Winnipeg had room for him. They've needed for years a legit slotback and they got that in Mitchell. The other two American starters are Adams and Lawlyer with Bailey and Grant battling for playing time as well. 

[SpeedFlex27]

4 hours ago, Colin Unger said:

I don't think Winnipeg had room for him. They've needed for years a legit slotback and they got that in Mitchell. The other two American starters are Adams and Lawlyer with Bailey and Grant battling for playing time as well. 

Like Canadian OL you can never have enough receivers. Besides we have nothing but bad luck signing guys who had great careers with other teams but are getting a little long in the tooth... Bryant Mitchell had a torn achilles so that is a concern. Collins had 1100 yards in 19 & is only 28. 

[Mark H.]

6 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Like Canadian OL you can never have enough receivers. 

That used to be true. Over 40% of the starting OL are now Americans - Canuck OTs are almost non-existent.  

[SpeedFlex27]

49 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

That used to be true. Over 40% of the starting OL are now Americans - Canuck OTs are almost non-existent.  

Because most of them coming out of college can't play tackle in the CFL. They aren't ready. They've never played against guys like Odell Willis, Charleston Hughes or Willie Jefferson. If a talented Canadian OL is available & so is a Canadian receiver the OL goes first. Canadians play Guard & Center while Americans play left & right tackle. Generally no more than 2 Americans on the line. 

Edited February 28, 2021 by SpeedFlex27

[Mark H.]

53 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Because most of them coming out of college can't play tackle in the CFL. They aren't ready. They've never played against guys like Odell Willis, Charleston Hughes or Willie Jefferson. If a talented Canadian OL is available & so is a Canadian receiver the OL goes first. Canadians play Guard & Center while Americans play left & right tackle. Generally no more than 2 Americans on the line. 

Yes. 2/5 = 40%

And 3 does happen. 

[Bigblue204]

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Like Canadian OL you can never have enough receivers. Besides we have nothing but bad luck signing guys who had great careers with other teams but are getting a little long in the tooth... Bryant Mitchell had a torn achilles so that is a concern. Collins had 1100 yards in 19 & is only 28. 

Collins was also on this team before...and let go. Maybe just maybe the coaching staff that just won a grey cup know what they want/need in a player, and maybe Collins just doesn't fit that...? 

[SpeedFlex27]

11 minutes ago, Mark H. said:

Yes. 2/5 = 40%

And 3 does happen. 

When it does, it handcuffs them elsewhere on the roster. Canadians can play RT as it isn't normally the qbs blind side. 

[Colin Unger]

2 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Like Canadian OL you can never have enough receivers. Besides we have nothing but bad luck signing guys who had great careers with other teams but are getting a little long in the tooth... Bryant Mitchell had a torn achilles so that is a concern. Collins had 1100 yards in 19 & is only 28. 

Bryant Mitchell is only 28.  He did have a torn achilles but he performed well in training camp and was almost brought back later in the season until Antonio Brown was signed. But the key factor here is that Mitchell is a slotback. We have tried and failed to convert Darvin Adams to slotback.  There's little value to sign a guy like Collins compared to taking a shot at a proven CFL slotback like Mitchell who is healthy and coming off a strong NFL training camp. When's the last time Collins played football?

Im very surprised that there wasn't serious interest in Collins from a handful of other CFL teams though but i'm not surprised at all that Winnipeg didn't go hard after him. 

[Mark H.]

53 minutes ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

When it does, it handcuffs them elsewhere on the roster. Canadians can play RT as it isn't normally the qbs blind side. 

The last decade or so, they usually don't, is all I'm saying

The OT who played for Montreal, is the last Canadian OT I can recall being a regular at the position. 

[M.O.A.B.]

2 hours ago, Bigblue204 said:

Collins was also on this team before...and let go. Maybe just maybe the coaching staff that just won a grey cup know what they want/need in a player, and maybe Collins just doesn't fit that...? 

Iirc, he asked for his release.

[Jpan85]

2 hours ago, Mark H. said:

The last decade or so, they usually don't, is all I'm saying

The OT who played for Montreal, is the last Canadian OT I can recall being a regular at the position. 

Chris Van Zeyl has played OT his whole career

[SpeedFlex27]

4 hours ago, Colin Unger said:

Bryant Mitchell is only 28.  He did have a torn achilles but he performed well in training camp and was almost brought back later in the season until Antonio Brown was signed. But the key factor here is that Mitchell is a slotback. We have tried and failed to convert Darvin Adams to slotback.  There's little value to sign a guy like Collins compared to taking a shot at a proven CFL slotback like Mitchell who is healthy and coming off a strong NFL training camp. When's the last time Collins played football?

Im very surprised that there wasn't serious interest in Collins from a handful of other CFL teams though but i'm not surprised at all that Winnipeg didn't go hard after him. 

Don't you think Drew Wolitarski would make a great slot rather than a wideout? He seems wasted out there. 

[Colin Unger]

20 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Don't you think Drew Wolitarski would make a great slot rather than a wideout? He seems wasted out there. 

He would make a pretty good slotback..  I want us to have a gamebreaking slotback again.

[SpeedFlex27]

3 hours ago, Colin Unger said:

He would make a pretty good slotback..  I want us to have a gamebreaking slotback again.

For some reason they won't move Wolitarski inside which makes no sense at all. 

[wbbfan]

On 2021-02-28 at 1:23 PM, Mark H. said:

That used to be true. Over 40% of the starting OL are now Americans - Canuck OTs are almost non-existent.  

Ol, especially tackle has become a position of much more athletic demand.  Weve come a long way from the era when matt sheridan was a stalwart at guard to a time when geoff gray is the new standard.  That or larry allen esq freak athletes.  The NI pipeline is almost always behind the us. And that means the difference between what you find at ni T and imp T is lofty. Mean while we have also seen a great increase in ratio breakers. 

Its still hard to attract the most athletic big kids to playing line, but only more so up here.  So we've gone from good teams striving to start 4 or 5 ni ol, 1 wr and 1 dl as pretty standard to teams starting 3 or even 2 NI ol with a mix of other positions.  Idk if we will see the number of NI Ts every rise back up to what it used to be.