Minter released

[SammyGreene]

#BCLions add DL Maxx Forde to 46-man roster, release DL Zach Minter.

Whoa! Can't say I saw this one coming. Was a substantial upgrade when he was inserted into the line up last season. So he got a game day cheque for being on the 46 last week then is released. Forde would change the ratio if he actually dresses in Hamilton.

[DanoT]

Scooped up by Riders???

Someone should grab him.

Minter is the victim of a numbers game. As I see it the Lions feel they need to keep 7 D linemen on the 46 or even the 44 man roster and mean taking Forde (NAT) off the practice roster and then choosing between Minter or the new guy Allen. Since the Lions still don't have a dominate rush end, they need to find out if Allen can be that guy, so he gets to stay on the roster.

Or: I wonder if some other team was interested in signing Forde off the PR, forcing the Lions to activate him.

[Hambone]

I don't know if Minter's really been healthy enough to play. He missed almost all of camp for some sort of knee issue. Seems to me at some point mid-camp there was speculation he may have to retire.

[CardiacKid]

Minter might not be the only d-lineman on the move this week as 3downnation.com is reporting things are not going well with the Riders and recent signing Sean Lemon. He is currently 3rd on the depth chart for their season opener and in fact might be scratched from the roster. As well the team has been shopping him around according to other sources. Apparently he is not a Chris Jones guy.....
Bit of a surprise given Lemon has been front and centre as a face of the new Riders.

http://3downnation.com/2016/06/29/lemon ... iderville/

[B.C.FAN]

Forde was on the one-game injured list last week. There's no way he could get to the practice roster without being scooped up by someone else after everyone (Wally and me included) raved about him in training camp.

I like Minter, and agree that the DL played its best last year when he was at nose tackle and Brooks was at 3-tech but my fears were eased when Brooks and Westerman had strong games in the middle against Calgary. I chatted briefly with Minter at FanFest when I got his autograph. I know he had been rumoured to be considering retirement due to his injury but he had a big smile on his face and seemed to be enjoying himself. He acknowledged his injury but seemed to be committed to remaining part of the team. I was surprised last week when he was added to the 46-man roster and not the one-game injured list.

The Lions have an abundance of non-import talent on the DL. I speculated previously that they could go with three Canadians in their six-man rotation and get another American on the game-day roster.

[DanoT]

Minter might not be the only d-lineman on the move this week as 3downnation.com is reporting things are not going well with the Riders and recent signing Sean Lemon. He is currently 3rd on the depth chart for their season opener and in fact might be scratched from the roster. As well the team has been shopping him around according to other sources. Apparently he is not a Chris Jones guy.....
Bit of a surprise given Lemon has been front and centre as a face of the new Riders.

http://3downnation.com/2016/06/29/lemon ... iderville/

Interesting part of the 3DownNation article is the $170k salary for Lemon with $85k already paid as a signing bonus. It makes Lemon a bit of a buy for anyone wanting to trade for him.

I think Wally will first get a better idea of what he has in Allen and how Bassie and Roh are doing this year before he talks any trade for Lemon with the Riders or is Wally even interested in the often outspoken Lemon?

Interesting that Riders have former Lions H-back A.C. Lenard on their depth chart as a DE, ahead of Lemon. Lenard is 6'2", 250lbs., same size as Lemon. Lenard would be a project as is Mabrue at DE and I don't think that Riders have enough player depth to wait around for project guys to develop.

Riders have also pulled Hazime, a (NAT) D lineman, off their PR to backup at O line and Dillon Guy is on the 1 game IR, so he must really be injured. I seem to recall Wally saying something about Guy needing to "manage his (knee) injury" during TC. IMO, Chris Jones=great coach, not so great (rookie GM) manager. It wouldn't surprise if Jones pushed Guy too hard, causing too much swelling.

[DanoT]

LU has reported in an article from 3DownNation that Minter came into TC out of shape. Shocking in this day and age of only a 2 week TC with less physical play, as a player cannot use TC for getting in shape like in the past.

[JohnnyMusso]

That project guy AC Leonard, who was a Tight end last year for BC, looked great yesterday getting 2 sacks. If he pans out to be a great DE or Tackle, not sure which he is playing, Jones will look like a genius. No way he is coming out now for Lemon.