Lions free agents

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Hambone
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David wrote:
Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:42 am
I may be in the minority but I think it was a mistake to let Roh walk. I am not saying Odell Willis isn't an upgrade for this year but realistically, how much does Willis have in the tank? I don't believe Roh has reached his ceiling as a pass rusher. During his time here, he was misused (playing some defensive tackle) and never really got that pocket collapsing help from the interior much of the time. He still registered 7 sacks in rotational duty.

I believe he is going to put up some big numbers in Winnipeg.


DH :cool:
I wonder if it's a case of having too many Rohs. BC was a bit top heavy last year in DL in that 6'3" to 6'5" 260 to 270 range.
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CardiacKid
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David wrote:
Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:42 am
I may be in the minority but I think it was a mistake to let Roh walk. I am not saying Odell Willis isn't an upgrade for this year but realistically, how much does Willis have in the tank? I don't believe Roh has reached his ceiling as a pass rusher. During his time here, he was misused (playing some defensive tackle) and never really got that pocket collapsing help from the interior much of the time. He still registered 7 sacks in rotational duty.

I believe he is going to put up some big numbers in Winnipeg.


DH :cool:
Super nice guy. A credit to the team both on and off the field. He has been continuing to work with the Lions community programs even when it was apparent the team was going to be looking elsewhere for talent on the DLine.

Maybe he will continue to make Vancouver home....
Qman
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David wrote:
Fri Feb 16, 2018 11:42 am
I may be in the minority but I think it was a mistake to let Roh walk. I am not saying Odell Willis isn't an upgrade for this year but realistically, how much does Willis have in the tank? I don't believe Roh has reached his ceiling as a pass rusher. During his time here, he was misused (playing some defensive tackle) and never really got that pocket collapsing help from the interior much of the time. He still registered 7 sacks in rotational duty.

I believe he is going to put up some big numbers in Winnipeg.


DH :cool:
Willis took bazzies spot, not roh's who plays the 5tech

roh spot was taken when they traded for Knapton & then re-signed menard ... both play roh's position
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Its been an interesting free agency so far and a very different one with Ed Hervey at the reins.

I'm pleased with the players that Hervey has singed. Our offensive and defensive lines should be improved from last year. We had nowhere to go but up, having given up the most sacks and pressures last season while also being a defense that could not get pressure on the quarterback.

I am sad to lose Fenner, Purifoy, and likely Yell. I could have seen us losing one of Purifoy or Fenner but the nickel back position is a very important one and both Fenner last season and Purifoy the season before played it well. Ronnie Yell is also a very good corner. Gaitor was cut last year but he played well for us the season before and is now signed elsewhere. Last season was a tough one for our defensive backs, who were moved around like yo yo's and while being forced to play vanilla zone with almost no pass rush.

The player I really wanted us to sign was Konar. He would have been a ratio changer, allowing us to play an International safety. He is also a very good player.

I am very pleased that we signed Cummings and Joel Figueroa‘s is a very good tackle. Steward will probably play guard again this season.
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According to a Winnipeg fan:

Fenner signed for $130k/yr for 2 years.

If reports are true, Bombers offered $60,000 more than the Lions, then Hervey only offered him $70,000 a year. That is way too low an offer for one of your best defensive players last year. I do not blame him for walking away. Considering all the money Hervey spent, I feel he made a mistake letting Fenner walk and not making him a decent offer. I feel losing him and Yell were mistakes. Time will tell if I am right.
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JohnnyMusso wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:52 am
According to a Winnipeg fan:

Fenner signed for $130k/yr for 2 years.

If reports are true, Bombers offered $60,000 more than the Lions, then Hervey only offered him $70,000 a year. That is way too low an offer for one of your best defensive players last year. I do not blame him for walking away. Considering all the money Hervey spent, I feel he made a mistake letting Fenner walk and not making him a decent offer. I feel losing him and Yell were mistakes. Time will tell if I am right.
Losing Fenner was massive but that was compounded by also losing Purifoy. Hervey had to know that teams would target Fenner and there was a chance he would sign elsewhere; as such I think Purifoy had to at least remain in the picture. Instead he tipped his hand before the start of free agency that Purifoy was not even in talks with the club.

We all saw what Purifoy did at nickel, did Hervey?

Signing Foster goes a long way to at least providing the team a proven option at nickel but if he didn’t join the team, there would a question mark at that position that would only be compounded by the significant transition in the secondary that will be happening in 2018.
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Hambone
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JohnnyMusso wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:52 am
According to a Winnipeg fan:

Fenner signed for $130k/yr for 2 years.

If reports are true, Bombers offered $60,000 more than the Lions, then Hervey only offered him $70,000 a year. That is way too low an offer for one of your best defensive players last year. I do not blame him for walking away. Considering all the money Hervey spent, I feel he made a mistake letting Fenner walk and not making him a decent offer. I feel losing him and Yell were mistakes. Time will tell if I am right.
IMO $130K is far too expensive when priorities are to address other areas. If Winnipeg was willing to go that high with no competition from Hervey then no doubt $130K wasn't going to be their final offer. No team can pay top dollar for every position. Match the Bomber offer and in all likelihood BC has to pass on Figueroa or Cummings or both.

NKL has been a revolving door for BC with somebody different just about every year. This will be the 4th time in 4 years a new player has slotted in there. It was Fenner last year. Purifoy in 2016. Josh Johnson in 2014 & 2015. Prior to Johnson it was more of a traditional set with Anton McKenzie playing the 3rd LB spot. Whether it's Foster (most likely) or someone else I'm not worried about the loss of Fenner.
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DanoT
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Hambone wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 11:52 am
JohnnyMusso wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:52 am
According to a Winnipeg fan:

Fenner signed for $130k/yr for 2 years.

If reports are true, Bombers offered $60,000 more than the Lions, then Hervey only offered him $70,000 a year. That is way too low an offer for one of your best defensive players last year. I do not blame him for walking away. Considering all the money Hervey spent, I feel he made a mistake letting Fenner walk and not making him a decent offer. I feel losing him and Yell were mistakes. Time will tell if I am right.
IMO $130K is far too expensive when priorities are to address other areas. If Winnipeg was willing to go that high with no competition from Hervey then no doubt $130K wasn't going to be their final offer. No team can pay top dollar for every position. Match the Bomber offer and in all likelihood BC has to pass on Figueroa or Cummings or both.

NKL has been a revolving door for BC with somebody different just about every year. This will be the 4th time in 4 years a new player has slotted in there. It was Fenner last year. Purifoy in 2016. Josh Johnson in 2014 & 2015. Prior to Johnson it was more of a traditional set with Anton McKenzie playing the 3rd LB spot. Whether it's Foster (most likely) or someone else I'm not worried about the loss of Fenner.
I agree with Hambone, and will also point out that whoever plays nickel, likely Foster, gets the benefit of playing beside Solly. Same goes for whoever ends up as the WIL LB.
Huge Talent
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3 down nation has the lions ranked way down at the bottom for free agency moves. Just wondering what you guys think of this. I really enjoy reading the posts on here. Lots of knowledgeable folks, helps me learn about the CFL game.
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Huge Talent wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:00 pm
3 down nation has the lions ranked way down at the bottom for free agency moves. Just wondering what you guys think of this. I really enjoy reading the posts on here. Lots of knowledgeable folks, helps me learn about the CFL game.
I can’t compare the Lions’ free-agent wins and losses to those of other teams but off the top of my head I would rate Joel Figueroa and Euclid Cummings as big gains on the line of scrimmage and Chandler Fenner and Ronnie Yell as big losses on defence. Ed Hervey has done what he set out to do by improving the line of scrimmage (including the trade for Odell Willis) but it remains to be seen whether the team will be better overall.
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DanoT
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Huge Talent wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:00 pm
3 down nation has the lions ranked way down at the bottom for free agency moves. Just wondering what you guys think of this. I really enjoy reading the posts on here. Lots of knowledgeable folks, helps me learn about the CFL game.
I think the 3D Nation downgrade is mostly about the ones that got away: Yell, Fenner, Purifoy, Bazzie, Roh.

IMO, Roh and Bazzie were part of an under preforming DLine that required changes.

The Lions should have been able to keep at least one of Fenner or Purifoy, so cause for another down grade, I guess.
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CardiacKid
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DanoT wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:45 pm
Huge Talent wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:00 pm
3 down nation has the lions ranked way down at the bottom for free agency moves. Just wondering what you guys think of this. I really enjoy reading the posts on here. Lots of knowledgeable folks, helps me learn about the CFL game.
I think the 3D Nation downgrade is mostly about the ones that got away: Yell, Fenner, Purifoy, Bazzie, Roh.

IMO, Roh and Bazzie were part of an under preforming DLine that required changes.

The Lions should have been able to keep at least one of Fenner or Purifoy, so cause for another down grade, I guess.
Pick your poison I guess...is it more likely the team could fill existing gaps in the defensive and offensive line with recruits from scouting efforts or fill potential gaps in the linebacking corps and secondarty from those same recruiting efforts?

Is it easier to find a diamond in the rough defensive lineman or defensive back?
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The_Pauser
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We had a bad team last year that under performed based on the talent. That's going to call for major changes. We got that. Hervey completely rebuilt our D-line with Cummings, Willis, and Knapton coming in here to replace Bazzie, Roh, and Turner. He has added to our offensive line with Figueroa as well as some more added depth. Huge wins there.

Losing both Fenner and Purifoy hurts a bit, but they aren't irreplaceable. Yell was quietly productive, but again, quietly. He wasn't a ball hawk though he was very good on coverage. My guess is his salary demands were a bit too high and we needed to save some money there so we could address our O-Line and D-Line.

This is a defense that gave up 501 points last year. Only Hamilton and Montreal gave up more. It's not like this was a good defense, so major changes should have been expected.
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David
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Hambone wrote:
Sun Feb 18, 2018 11:52 am
IMO $130K is far too expensive when priorities are to address other areas. If Winnipeg was willing to go that high with no competition from Hervey then no doubt $130K wasn't going to be their final offer. No team can pay top dollar for every position. Match the Bomber offer and in all likelihood BC has to pass on Figueroa or Cummings or both.
I'd agree with this take. Ed's strategy seems pretty clear. Address the lines of scrimmage and spend your resources there. If the D line is plugging holes and getting to the quarterback as expected, you simply need a very good nickel, not an exceptional one (sidenote: with Winnipeg throwing money around like drunken sailors, it seems obvious to me they've adopted the "spend now, shed later" mentality. Can't see them not having to cut some high-priced talent come training camp).


DH :cool:
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I am actually quite surprised by Dunk's analysis as it pertains to the Lions. To me, Hervey has done a good job of addressing areas that were underperforming. Yes, the re-allocation of resources has caused some uneasy decisions, but that is often the price of doing business and, at the end of all of it, I think the Lions are stronger on and off the field. Talent wise, I think they have addressed issues along the lines of scrimmage and, in the process, have also addressed a leadership void (for lack of a better term) and inserted some, in my opinion, much needed nastiness into the lineup.

I will admit, in losing Yell, Fenner and Purifoy, I was experiencing some minor heart palpitations, but Hervey has also addressed these losses and, although they were/are very good players, the speculated replacements are not exactly a huge step down, especially for an underperforming defence. Foster is a VERY good football player and certainly not a step down or backwards and the Lions system has created some very good Nickel players over the last few years... I highly doubt we will see any tail off in terms of production this season. Also, a shakeup was due in the secondary and I like the aggression that Peter's plays with. Perhaps with a stronger pass rush, Lion DBs will be able to play a more aggressive, attack style.

Salary cap is also important and where one commits funds to one spot, they have to take from another. Yell, Fenner and Purifoy deserve their due for what they have achieved, but, as with every team, it is hard to retain all of them when you have money committed to LB and d-line.

I am also really pleased, personally, with the non-headline acquisitions Hervey has made. Adding Keelan Johnson gives us a fast, hard-hitting, aggressive LB that can play multiple positions, we have addressed OL depth with Lewis and Greaves. I also think we have upgraded our special teams with the type sof athletes that have made Reinbolt for effective in the past. Qb is less frightening in the past as well - if Jennings can re-gain is form, he will be just fine and we have very capable back-up competition in Gale , Fjardo and Birdsong.

Dunk also doesnt really take into consideration the strategic re-signing of free agents, the trades for Knapton and Willis (etc.), the shedding of salary for Williams, the re-structuring/extension of Eliminian and a re-build of the coaching and front office staff. At the meet and greet night, I had the chance to chat with some of the coaches and, in my mind, the knowledge, determination and ability in that group is astounding. I was also struck by the business like nature of Hervey and his entire staff. This feels like a team on a mission - a team that has a plan - a team that has everyone on board and aligned.

I, for one, am excited about this season and the ones coming up - something is being built here, and being done so with intention.
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