Free Agent Market and Free Agent Camps

[TheLionKing]

Paredes and Maver resigned with the Stamps.

[CardiacKid]

Hajrullahu (probably spelt wrong) would be the ideal choice if having one guy handle all the kicking chores was an absolute priority. He had an excellent turnaround year; the change of scenery obviously was good. He went from the absolute doghouse to....well, the penthouse is an overstatement. I expect the Argos will resign him and I expect he would be happy to stay, based on how he responded.
Ronnie Pfeffer in Ottawa is intriguing; he filled Swayze Waters' shoes admirably but had an injury plagued year last year. Ottawa seems to go through kickers like they do running backs. He isn't listed as a FA but if he were cut loose, I think he is worth a gander.

[Lionsfan65]

Hajrullahu (probably spelt wrong) would be the ideal choice if having one guy handle all the kicking chores was an absolute priority. He had an excellent turnaround year; the change of scenery obviously was good. He went from the absolute doghouse to....well, the penthouse is an overstatement. I expect the Argos will resign him and I expect he would be happy to stay, based on how he responded.
Ronnie Pfeffer in Ottawa is intriguing; he filled Swayze Waters' shoes admirably but had an injury plagued year last year. Ottawa seems to go through kickers like they do running backs. He isn't listed as a FA but if he were cut loose, I think he is worth a gander.

Now that Maver and Paredes have resigned with Calgary my next choice for a kicker to do all three would be Sean Whyte. He's a pretty good placekicker and if I'm not mistaken wasn't too bad at punting either. If he doesn't resign, I would definitely go after him.

[David]

Sorry to burst everyone's balloon, but neither Hajrullahu nor Whyte are going to give up their situations to come to BC. I would expect Toronto and Edmonton to make both priority signings. As far as I know, both players are happy and aren't looking to leave, nor are their teams going to just let them walk. Reliable, versatile National kickers are worth their weight in gold.

I would have taken P/K Quinn Van Gylswyk in the draft when we had the opportunity but we chose Brett Blaszko instead (and later drafted Shaquille Johnson).


DH

[Qman]

whyte just resigned with EDM

[Lionsfan65]

Sorry to burst everyone's balloon, but neither Hajrullahu nor Whyte are going to give up their situations to come to BC. I would expect Toronto and Edmonton to make both priority signings. As far as I know, both players are happy and aren't looking to leave, nor are their teams going to just let them walk. Reliable, versatile National kickers are worth their weight in gold.

I would have taken P/K Quinn Van Gylswyk in the draft when we had the opportunity but we chose Brett Blaszko instead (and later drafted Shaquille Johnson).


DH

whyte just resigned with EDM

Well so much for that.

[CardiacKid]

Sorry to burst everyone's balloon, but neither Hajrullahu nor Whyte are going to give up their situations to come to BC. I would expect Toronto and Edmonton to make both priority signings. As far as I know, both players are happy and aren't looking to leave, nor are their teams going to just let them walk. Reliable, versatile National kickers are worth their weight in gold.

I would have taken P/K Quinn Van Gylswyk in the draft when we had the opportunity but we chose Brett Blaszko instead (and later drafted Shaquille Johnson).


DH

I wasn't expecting Hajrullahu to leave Toronto; I mentioned him as he really is the best multi-faceted National kicker out there. If a team is willing to gamble a roster spot on a National kicker who could relatively cheap, I think Pfeffer is the way to go.

[Lion Guy]

Sorry to burst everyone's balloon, but neither Hajrullahu nor Whyte are going to give up their situations to come to BC. I would expect Toronto and Edmonton to make both priority signings. As far as I know, both players are happy and aren't looking to leave, nor are their teams going to just let them walk. Reliable, versatile National kickers are worth their weight in gold.

I would have taken P/K Quinn Van Gylswyk in the draft when we had the opportunity but we chose Brett Blaszko instead (and later drafted Shaquille Johnson).


DH

Keep your eye out for Swayze Waters. I will bet he's on Wally's radar.

[David]

Keep your eye out for Swayze Waters. I will bet he's on Wally's radar.

Yes, this was reported last week. Evidently Waters was pursued late this past year, but had some personal things to take care of, so declined. But I would expect Wally to go hard after him again in the off-season. Be kind of cool for a West Coast team to have a Waters and Rainey on special teams.

Waters can do all 3 kicking pursuits well (in fact, has Medlock-like distance on his field goals), but is an International. I'd eventually like to find a National(s) for the punting/kicking duties like EDM, SASK, CAL, and TOR.


DH

[pennw]

Keep your eye out for Swayze Waters. I will bet he's on Wally's radar.

Yes, this was reported last week. Evidently Waters was pursued late this past year, but had some personal things to take care of, so declined. But I would expect Wally to go hard after him again in the off-season. Be kind of cool for a West Coast team to have a Waters and Rainey on special teams.

Waters can do all 3 kicking pursuits well (in fact, has Medlock-like distance on his field goals), but is an International. I'd eventually like to find a National(s) for the punting/kicking duties like EDM, SASK, CAL, and TOR.


DH

Calgary has two guys kicking/punting.

[David]

Correct, so does Edmonton (Whyte, Shaw). I meant it's better to have a National or Nationals (plural) to handle the kicking than burning up an International roster spot, all things being equal.


DH

[BC 1988]

I would have agreed that Swayze Waters makes sense (given the lack of quality Nationals available), but he has had some injuries over the past few years.

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions have re-signed two special teamers from their list of pending free agents, reliable long-snapper Mike Benson and linebacker Nehemie Kankolongo. After the re-signing of Jeremiah Johnson last week, there are now 21 unsigned names on the Lions' pending FA list, according to cfl.ca:

Free Agent Tracker

(The original list of pending Lions' FAs had 25 names. DL Marcus Dixon, who retired before the 2015 season, has been removed from the latest list.)

[David]

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports 2h2 hours ago

Been told it's looking good for #BCLions kicker Richie Leone to sign in the NFL in the next week or so. Down to 2 teams.

Leone clearly has the leg (and the versatility should a team be looking for a punter who can back-up the kicker in an emergency), but does he have the pinpoint accuracy they look for down there? You often have to punt (the nose of the football) from mid-field and have the ball fair-caught inside the 10 yard line. Punting for distance is just part of a punter's job in the NFL.


DH

[BC 1988]

NEWS 1130 Sports ‏@NEWS1130Sports 2h2 hours ago

Been told it's looking good for #BCLions kicker Richie Leone to sign in the NFL in the next week or so. Down to 2 teams.

Leone clearly has the leg (and the versatility should a team be looking for a punter who can back-up the kicker in an emergency), but does he have the pinpoint accuracy they look for down there? You often have to punt (the nose of the football) from mid-field and have the ball fair-caught inside the 10 yard line. Punting for distance is just part of a punter's job in the NFL.


DH

Agree it's likely Leone is gone--he'll probably find a home with an NFL team. They won't be expecting him to do FG kicking, and he's still young and injury-free (coming back from nagging injuries-resulting in poor performance- was why Waters was cut by the Panthers last August.)

Of course, Leone might end being cut in NFL preseason as well.