Which Impeding BC Free Agent Defensive Player are Lions Most Likely to Sign

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Which Impeding Free Agent Defensive Player are Lions Most Likely to Sign

BUTLER Crezdon
0
No votes
DOZIER Branden
0
No votes
GRYMES Aaron
1
11%
LEMON Shawn
6
67%
MENARD David
1
11%
PETERS Garry
1
11%
Odell Willis
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 9
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Hambone
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Murdoch wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 7:56 am
Not sure if the bridge was burnt with no return but Sol Elimimian was one of the best deals in the league last year. Hard to think Ed passed on $160,000 as was rumored to be the number he signed in Sask for. Derek Taylor had him listed as only missing something like 8 tackles all year. Would love to see him back in BC.

AJ Orange is another who had a tough year and might come at a reasonable number. He was good the year before.
You're forgetting SolE was already under contract to BC for 2019 for a lot more than $160K, probably a ways north of $200K. I think in negotiating that SolE took a bit of a cut from his old deal.

Having renegotiated with 56 only a year earlier I think Ed's only options were to:

1) honour the contract and cut some other high priced vets or decline on Reilly to make it fit..
2) cut SolE and use the money elsewhere.
3) try to get SolE to accept aother big pay cut for the 2nd straight year.
4) trade him which they tried unsuccessfully to do for several months.

IMO 1) wasn't an option as it would have totally blown up their offseason plans and priorities. We know 4) was tried for weeks on end. While 3) was an option for Ed it likely was a non-starter for 56 which left 2) as the final answer.
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DanoT
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Hambone wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 1:52 pm
Murdoch wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 7:56 am
Not sure if the bridge was burnt with no return but Sol Elimimian was one of the best deals in the league last year. Hard to think Ed passed on $160,000 as was rumored to be the number he signed in Sask for. Derek Taylor had him listed as only missing something like 8 tackles all year. Would love to see him back in BC.

AJ Orange is another who had a tough year and might come at a reasonable number. He was good the year before.
I understand the limited options re Elimimian that Ed faced but I cannot figure out how he passed on Bo Lokumbo in 2019. Did Ed not notice in 2018 that Lokumbo was the Lions best Cdn and a beast on Special Teams and I think the Lions leading tackler in 2018?
You're forgetting SolE was already under contract to BC for 2019 for a lot more than $160K, probably a ways north of $200K. I think in negotiating that SolE took a bit of a cut from his old deal.

Having renegotiated with 56 only a year earlier I think Ed's only options were to:

1) honour the contract and cut some other high priced vets or decline on Reilly to make it fit..
2) cut SolE and use the money elsewhere.
3) try to get SolE to accept aother big pay cut for the 2nd straight year.
4) trade him which they tried unsuccessfully to do for several months.

IMO 1) wasn't an option as it would have totally blown up their offseason plans and priorities. We know 4) was tried for weeks on end. While 3) was an option for Ed it likely was a non-starter for 56 which left 2) as the final answer.
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Hambone
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As far as Lokombo goes we have no idea if Claybrooks and Stubler held him in the same high regard as the fans did. Given the stories that emerged re: Kavis Reed we also don't know if Bo got one of those crazy SMS circumventing deals that Reed was handing out. He may have received an offer from Montreal that was too good for him to turn down and too rich for Hervey to match.
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Murdoch
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Agree with your comments regarding Elimimian.

Possibly there was a hope / expectation for more of an increase to the cap at the time they signed Mike Reilly that limited their options on 56. Being as it dragged on for most of the off season it doesn't seem as if it was an easy decision on what to do and there were questions after the 2018 season.

What we don't know is the numbers that were tossed around on option #3 .

My guess is that it was more than he ended up getting in the end. Hard to argue that he didn't prove the nay sayers wrong. He compares very well to Muamba and Dean and flat out out performed Adam Bighill and his posh deal.

Fast forward to today and there are 4 western teams looking for their 2020 starting MLB. I think Sask signs him again in a heartbeat if he is available at $160,000 as might Edmonton or Calgary. I see his market value higher than that.

That said both Maleki Harris and Kevin Hayes showed promise. Not sure if Konar is being considered as a starter.

Not a MLB but potential Dozier type Chandler Fenner is also headed for free agency. Sad that Winnipeg played him out of position but credit to him for doing a decent job.

We'll see soon. Thanks for the comments.
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Hambone
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Murdoch wrote:
Sun Jan 19, 2020 6:59 am
Agree with your comments regarding Elimimian.

Possibly there was a hope / expectation for more of an increase to the cap at the time they signed Mike Reilly that limited their options on 56. Being as it dragged on for most of the off season it doesn't seem as if it was an easy decision on what to do and there were questions after the 2018 season.

What we don't know is the numbers that were tossed around on option #3 .

My guess is that it was more than he ended up getting in the end. Hard to argue that he didn't prove the nay sayers wrong. He compares very well to Muamba and Dean and flat out out performed Adam Bighill and his posh deal.

Fast forward to today and there are 4 western teams looking for their 2020 starting MLB. I think Sask signs him again in a heartbeat if he is available at $160,000 as might Edmonton or Calgary. I see his market value higher than that.

That said both Maleki Harris and Kevin Hayes showed promise. Not sure if Konar is being considered as a starter.

Not a MLB but potential Dozier type Chandler Fenner is also headed for free agency. Sad that Winnipeg played him out of position but credit to him for doing a decent job.

We'll see soon. Thanks for the comments.
I don't know that $160K ever would have been on the table in BC. When a GM goes to the well once on a player to renegotiate a deal they generally don't want to go there again a year later to renegotiate another pay cut a year later. It sends terrible message to all players within the organization as well as any considering going there as free agents that the GM's word means very little. As such I don't think Hervey even broached the idea of another cut with SolE. I think the only option he really considered was trading which he tried right up until a pending bonus payment forced the release 3 weeks before training camps opened.

Unfortunately for SolE the timing of his release last year left him next to no leverage in terms of number of teams who might be interested and how much they might be willing to pay given most would have their SMS budgets already full. The $160K from the Riders was, if not the only offer he had on the table , the best he was going to get when he accepted it 10 days before camp. It was a take it or leave it type deal if he wanted to attend a training camp. He took it.

IMO if he signs with the Riders this year before free agency it will be back up around $200K if not a bit more. He'll test the FA waters before he signs for any $160K in 2020. It's a much more favourable position to be an FA on Day 1 of free agency when everybody is open for business than it is a few days before training camp.
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Murdoch
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Good assessment of the situation. We'll see how it plays out.

I'm going to say there already is a credibility issue related to some of the two year deals handed out only to be cut the following year. Chris Randle, one of a few that have had that experience. Particularly when it is the GM who signed you to the too expensive deal in the first place who turns around and finds you too expensive.

Seems to be tough to plan a year ahead for some.

Guaranteed contracts would bring another level of "be sure" to the plate and would be better all around imo. Funny how the GM contracts are guaranteed.
JohnnyMusso
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The bridge is burnt here. Sol E will never sign with the Lions as long as Ed Hervey remains here. He does not like him and I think Hell would freeze over first before he signed with the Lions again with Hervey as Gm. I think Kevin Hayes will be the new MLB. Has the potential, talent, youth, speed, and way cheaper.
MacNews
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Murdoch wrote:
Sat Jan 18, 2020 7:56 am
Not sure if the bridge was burnt with no return but Sol Elimimian was one of the best deals in the league last year. Hard to think Ed passed on $160,000 as was rumored to be the number he signed in Sask for. Derek Taylor had him listed as only missing something like 8 tackles all year. Would love to see him back in BC.

AJ Orange is another who had a tough year and might come at a reasonable number. He was good the year before.

List of all-star MLBs the Lions have lost to other teams:

1) Barrin Simpson
2) Solomon Elimimian
3) Adam Bighill

Our defence is always weaker for it.
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Hambone
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Hambone wrote:
Thu Jan 16, 2020 2:06 pm



As for free agents from other teams and in particular those who might follow Campbell two pending FAs from Ottawa who have caught my eye are DL Michael Wakefield and DE Avery Ellis. Both are 3 year CFL vets and still only 26 and 25 respectively which makes them similar to Deron Williams when Wally landed him. I thought Williams was one of the best FA signings Wally ever made. Ellis though I think has been getting NFL workouts so may not make it to free agency. Still with both Campbell and Thorpe moving on they could also be looking at new teams.
So much for that idea. Ellis and Wakefield both signed extensions with Ottawa today as did Danny Mason another REDBLACK DL.
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Murdoch
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[List of all-star MLBs the Lions have lost to other teams:

1) Barrin Simpson
2) Solomon Elimimian
3) Adam Bighill

Our defence is always weaker for it.
[/quote]

Looks like Winnipeg knows a good thing when they see it. Bomber fans were shouting from the roof tops to sign Sol E and reunite team 100 last year. The fact that they won without doing so does not mean that they had a better team.

Will see what Rick Campbell comes up with. Hayes looked good and Herdman is still young.

Looks like AJ Orange is not a free agent so sorry about that one. He might get cut though as Eskimo fans seemed unimpressed.
JohnnyMusso
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No one voted for Grymes who ends up winning this poll for he was the first among the list above to sign:

Lions Sign Aaron Grymes For Two More Seasons
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