Free Agent Market and Free Agent Camps

[Qman]

The Lions need to make the re-signing of Elemimian a priority but if he goes to FA or the NFL then they need to re-sign Lokombo who surely is ready to be a CFL starter.

Westerman should be resigned but for backup/rotation money with Menard as the starting Nat. on the D line.

I don't expect Wally to spend the $ in FA to sign a top notch D lineman like Riders' Jefferson or Stamps' Hughes.

Hunter Steward as a Nat. guard and tackle with Victoria as his hometown is another must re-sign.

is it really a priority to sign Soli for the $ he is asking. I rather they move biggie in the middle, sign bo and play him in biggies spot, then we can play a US safety and put all those soli dollars into the substantially upgrading the D-line.


Interesting to see if steward resigns. I assume there is another team that will let him play tackle, instead of guard.

[David]

I will be looking at the Bomber situation with interest as well. According to the scuttlebutt that was circulating during Grey Cup weekend, Bernie Nicholls is looking for a $450,000 contract. Also the name of Paul LaPolice emerged as a dark horse candidate for the HC job in Toronto. It seems almost a given that Milanovich is a goner in Toronto.

Wow. Retired, washed-up NHLers sure have high contract demands these days. His agent needs a reality check!

(You obviously meant Matt Nichols).


DH

[Qman]

solomone56: 7 great years in Canada. Thank you @bclions_official for giving me a opportunity to live out my dreams. @cfl @tsn_official

If Solly was 32 or even 25 I would almost interpret what he posted last night as him retiring or signing with an NFL team.
At 30 though, I would think there isn't much in the way of options down south and he has at least 2 more well-paid years up here. Maybe just saying goodbye to Vancouver/Canada until next season?

agree

[BC 1988]

I will be looking at the Bomber situation with interest as well. According to the scuttlebutt that was circulating during Grey Cup weekend, Bernie Nicholls is looking for a $450,000 contract. Also the name of Paul LaPolice emerged as a dark horse candidate for the HC job in Toronto. It seems almost a given that Milanovich is a goner in Toronto.

Wow. Retired, washed-up NHLers sure have high contract demands these days. His agent needs a reality check!

(You obviously meant Matt Nichols).


DH

LOL. Yes that's what I thought CK meant too.
The CFL QB landscape could be quite different next season lots of potential change. (Of course it's still very early).
I think it's unlikely Solly will get picked up by an NFL team. He already tried that, and the serious injury since then makes him even less likely to make it. I wonder what CFL teams would be willing to meet his asking price? It's clear from his tweet he expects Wally won't and he's written off BC.
I'll be sorry to see him go, but that's the reality of the business.

[Hambone]

[Wow. Retired, washed-up NHLers sure have high contract demands these days. His agent needs a reality check!

(You obviously meant Matt Nichols).


DH

Yup. No mullet/hockey hair on the Bomber Nichols.

[The_Pauser]

The Lions need to make the re-signing of Elemimian a priority but if he goes to FA or the NFL then they need to re-sign Lokombo who surely is ready to be a CFL starter.

Westerman should be resigned but for backup/rotation money with Menard as the starting Nat. on the D line.

I don't expect Wally to spend the $ in FA to sign a top notch D lineman like Riders' Jefferson or Stamps' Hughes.

Hunter Steward as a Nat. guard and tackle with Victoria as his hometown is another must re-sign.

is it really a priority to sign Soli for the $ he is asking. I rather they move biggie in the middle, sign bo and play him in biggies spot, then we can play a US safety and put all those soli dollars into the substantially upgrading the D-line.


Interesting to see if steward resigns. I assume there is another team that will let him play tackle, instead of guard.

Yes it is a priority to sign Solly. He's the best defensive player in the league. Putting both him and Biggie out there is a huge advantage for this team.

I also would be surprised if Lokombo is back. Seems like he fell out of favour as the season went on, and doesn't seem to be in the team's plans.

[Qman]

The Lions need to make the re-signing of Elemimian a priority but if he goes to FA or the NFL then they need to re-sign Lokombo who surely is ready to be a CFL starter.

Westerman should be resigned but for backup/rotation money with Menard as the starting Nat. on the D line.

I don't expect Wally to spend the $ in FA to sign a top notch D lineman like Riders' Jefferson or Stamps' Hughes.

Hunter Steward as a Nat. guard and tackle with Victoria as his hometown is another must re-sign.

is it really a priority to sign Soli for the $ he is asking. I rather they move biggie in the middle, sign bo and play him in biggies spot, then we can play a US safety and put all those soli dollars into the substantially upgrading the D-line.


Interesting to see if steward resigns. I assume there is another team that will let him play tackle, instead of guard.

Yes it is a priority to sign Solly. He's the best defensive player in the league. Putting both him and Biggie out there is a huge advantage for this team.

I also would be surprised if Lokombo is back. Seems like he fell out of favour as the season went on, and doesn't seem to be in the team's plans.

Did we really lose anything last year when soli went down and biggie when to the middle.
Then you could sign a AHE type linebacker for 75,000 and put $$$ into rebuilding the D-line which should be the priority, if we don't sign lokombo.
Only benefit of playing lokombo is you can play a US safety ... or go to a 5 US 1 cdn DLine rotation (instead of 4 US 2 Cdn)

[SammyGreene]

Before Wally gets down to business dealing with his 25 free agents, he extends Chris Rainey through the 2018 season. A real key piece to this team moving forward and Wally likely wants to make sure he is taken care of beyond next season. His re-structured deal should make him one of the highest paid players on the team. It also gives Wally a better idea what his cap is looking like over the next 2 years before making offers to his FAs.

http://www.bclions.com/2016/12/05/lions ... thru-2018/

For what it's worth an ESPN article on CFL free agents getting interest from NFL teams has Bryan Burnham and Hunter Steward near the top of the list. Would hate to see them go. Wally will have to pay Burnham somewhere between Manny and Gore's salaries and that might not be enough from keeping him from trying his luck down south.
Steward has had just the one healthy season but showed what he is capable of.

http://www.espn.com/cfl/story/_/id/1813 ... an-burnham

[CardiacKid]

I will be looking at the Bomber situation with interest as well. According to the scuttlebutt that was circulating during Grey Cup weekend, Bernie Nicholls is looking for a $450,000 contract. Also the name of Paul LaPolice emerged as a dark horse candidate for the HC job in Toronto. It seems almost a given that Milanovich is a goner in Toronto.

Wow. Retired, washed-up NHLers sure have high contract demands these days. His agent needs a reality check!

(You obviously meant Matt Nichols).


DH

Whoopsie-Doodle!

[CardiacKid]

Before Wally gets down to business dealing with his 25 free agents, he extends Chris Rainey through the 2018 season. A real key piece to this team moving forward and Wally likely wants to make sure he is taken care of beyond next season. His re-structured deal should make him one of the highest paid players on the team. It also gives Wally a better idea what his cap is looking like over the next 2 years before making offers to his FAs.

http://www.bclions.com/2016/12/05/lions ... thru-2018/

For what it's worth an ESPN article on CFL free agents getting interest from NFL teams has Bryan Burnham and Hunter Steward near the top of the list. Would hate to see them go. Wally will have to pay Burnham somewhere between Manny and Gore's salaries and that might not be enough from keeping him from trying his luck down south.
Steward has had just the one healthy season but showed what he is capable of.

http://www.espn.com/cfl/story/_/id/1813 ... an-burnham

Well if Burnham goes south, Ernest Jackson would be a great replacement. However I really hope Burnham stays as his leaping ability, along with his mental and physical toughness, is a good match with Jennings tendency to heave it up for his receivers to go get...

[Blitz]

The list we would like to get signed and the ones we actually do sign will be much different.

On offence, I believe signing Hunter Steward, Bryan Burnham, Jeremiah Johnson have to be priorities.

On defense, a lot will have to do with ratio. Our defensive line has to be a priority.

If Wally was willing to go with Kenyan Parker at field corner (which I would do) it would allow us to go with a rotating International field defensive ends (Bazzie and a new International, which I would love to be Jefferson of the Riders). It would also enable us to also go with two International rotating tackles (right now that would be Brooks and Bryant Turner Jr. but it could be any International free agent or recruit or two in their spots. I believe Westerman is an important signing. Big, good National tackles are hard to find unless Forde is ready to step in.

At boundary defensive end, right now that would mean Roh and Menard. Roh played better with Menard rotating in for him but I'm still not totally convinced Roh is the answer.

For me, at linebacker I would keep Sol E. or Bighill but not both. I would lean to Sol E. I am probably the odd man out but Lokombo would be starting if I was making the call. If we did that and started Parker at field corner, we could play an International at safety, which I would love us to do.

I would sign McCallum and bring in or draft a National punter and long field goal kicker for one season and develop him to take over for McCallum.

Another question that has to be answered is Lulay is a very expensive backup quarterback. I would transition him to quarterback coach and if Jennings suffered a longer term injury, I would renegotiate Lulay's contract at that point and activate him as a quarterback. The move would save money and begin the transition, as Dickenson did, to future coach and possibly offensive coordinator a year down the road.

[WestCoastJoe]

Might be tough to hold on to Burnham and Steward. Unlikely to replace them with equal value methinks.

Intl D Line must be a priority. IMO our guys were not championship calibre, especially when we play so much soft zone behind them. Nats Menard and Westerman are more than satisfactory.

Loads of talent on the team. Need more space age Xs and Os IMO, mixed in with the old school stuff.

[Blitz]

Might be tough to hold on to Burnham and Steward. Unlikely to replace them with equal value methinks.

Intl D Line must be a priority. IMO our guys were not championship calibre, especially when we play so much soft zone behind them. Nats Menard and Westerman are more than satisfactory.

Loads of talent on the team. Need more space age Xs and Os IMO, mixed in with the old school stuff.

Players are not going to get this done alone, as you point out astutely WCJ.

I really believe signing Hunter Steward should be a huge priority, now that Rainey is signed. Steward can play both guard and tackle, something none of our other National offensive linemen are capable of. Steward was the key to our running attack. Most of our huge gains arrived with holes created by either Steward and Husband or Steward and Olifioye and quite often our huge gains were due to a double team block by Steward and Husband, with Steward peeling off his double team block to then go upfield and get a second block on the linebacker.

I don't believe Burnham will make it down south and I hope we can get him back. We should have made Ernest Jackson a starter long before he ever started for our Leos, we never should have let Ernest Jackson get away (and I still win the bet with B.C. Fan that Jackson was a better choice than Kierrie Johnson. ) but Jackson will probably be too expensive for Wally (and Jackson will probably sign again in Ottawa).

Jeremiah Johnson also needs to be signed.

The defensive line is a priority as you also note WCJ. But other than signing Bazzie (who needs to be rotated with another good International) and Westerman (unless Forde is ready) I really believe we need to sign a very good boundary International defensive end.

A lot of what we do on the defensive line next season depends upon what we do at linebacker and defensive back. Ronnie Yell really needs to be signed as does Anthony Gaitor. If we went with a National at one linebacker spot (ie: Lokombo) or a National at field corner (ie: Parker) then we can go with three International defensive ends plus Menard and two International tackles (plus either Westerman or Forde). That is the way I think we should go.

But we need to bring in a very big nose tackle type for one of the International defensive tackle spots and two very good International rush ends - one to rotate with Bazzie and one to replace Roh if we could sign a free agent to do that or recruit a very good one down south.

If everything lined up I would be starting both Lokombo and Parker - so both would be key signings for me.... therefore being able to start an International free safety and also going with 3 International defensive ends and Menard, giving us a four man rotation at defensive end plus going with two International tackles plus either Westerman and Forde for a 3 player defensive tackle rotation (and even four if we could get both Westerman and Forde signed.

Stephen Clarke would be a key signing. He played very well at boundary halfback for us when he started and could also step in at safety if we went with an import there or at nickelback also.

I really believe our pass rush and defensive backfield are key for next year and we don't need both Bighill and Sol E. but need one of them and my choice would be Sol E.

Priority Signings Now that Rainey is signed

OFFENCE

1. Hunter Steward
2. Bryan Burnham
3. Jeremiah Johnson
4. Rolly Lumbala

DEFENCE

1. Ronnie Yell
2. Sol E. if affordable
3. Bo Lokombo
4. Jabar Westerman (unless Forde is ready)
5. Kenyan Parker
6. Anthony Gaitor
7. Alex Bazzie
8. Stephen Clarke

SPECIAL TEAMS

1. Paul McCallum (one year contract)
2. Mike Benson

LOW OR LOWER PRIORITY SIGNINGS

Marco Iannuzzi
Richie Leone
T.J. Lee
Marcus Dixon
Tim O'Neil
Nick Moore
Terrell Sinkfield
Bryant Turner Jr.
Michael Brooks
Nehemie Kankolongo

[B.C.FAN]

I don't believe Burnham will make it down south and I hope we can get him back. We should have made Ernest Jackson a starter long before he ever started for our Leos, we never should have let Ernest Jackson get away (and I still win the bet with B.C. Fan that Jackson was a better choice than Kierrie Johnson. ) but Jackson will probably be too expensive for Wally (and Jackson will probably sign again in Ottawa).

I concede.

Kierrie Johnson and Ernest Jackson were competing at boundary wideout in B.C., where I (and the Lions' coaching staff) initially liked Johnson's speed and shiftiness over Jackson's size and sure-handedness. Jackson's career took off when he was moved to the slot in Ottawa. He has proved to be durable enough to take the pounding inside and has caught almost everything thrown his way, whereas Johnson's career was plagued by injuries in B.C., Saskatchewan, Ottawa and Toronto before he retired. Looking back, I wish Johnson had played at least a full season with Henry Burris. Johnson was Ottawa's leading receiver through the first four games of 2014 with Burris at QB before he suffered a season-ending injury.

I agree that Burnham's best career option is with the Lions. I hope he chooses to comes back.

[David]

Just read this morning that Bryan Burnham, Alex Bazzie, and Mich'ael Brooks all have workouts scheduled today with the NFL's Minnesota Vikings.

Great points Blitz. A little surprised though that you have Brooks on the "lower priority" list. He started well but was largely ineffective for much of the season which I blame on 2 knee sprains. I think he's a bit under-sized for an NFL tackle, but we'll see what goes on there. Would like to have seen what George Uko can do. Never got a sniff in '16.

Yes, if we could only keep one, it would be Solly over Biggie for me too, but I do like Biggie's versatility (he also happens to be our back-up kicker). However, I have a feeling that Dyshawn Davis is going to turn some heads at camp next year.

I guess I am a little bigger on Roh than some of you here. Thought he came on this year, and he's still learning technique so I don't believe he's maxed out on his potential with the Leos.

I am also warm to the idea of a Int'l at safety, possibly Ryan Phillips with Thompson apprenticing behind him. Not sure about Edem. He runs hot and cold for me, often in the same game.



DH