Lions release Buck Pierce

[Hutch85]

Lots of comments and praise here that have been said by the likes of Toppy Vann and SammyGreene, I can't add anything as good as what they've said already so I'll just say: Good luck, Buck! That gutsy game against SK last year was one of my favourites, I hope to see you on a CFL team again soon. Thanks for the past few years as a Lion, take care and all the best to you.

[sports & stuff----ric]

good luck buck!!

dont worry people, now that he is a free agent he will have 7 teams calling him

[Sir Purrcival]

This was the right decision to make for a few reasons.

1. Buck is better than probably most if not all of the # 2 QB's out there right now and probably better than some of the #1's. He is free to explore those options now. He won't be done in this league. My bet is Calgary or Montreal. 2 older but very established QB's. Buck is # 2 but gets his chances in a year or two provided he can stay healthy.

2. JJ is a better candidate our # 2 because of his age and his arm. He is much more likely to be content to be the # 2 than a much younger Buck and those situations where you most often see a backup come in, you are more likely to need the big arm.

I fear for Buck in that he may never get a real shot at a #1 again because of his injuries. Very few teams are going to want to take a flyer on someone with a past history of shoulder and concussion problems.

Nevertheless a fine young man and a fine football player. Good luck Buck. May good fortune be your ally.

[Bobbyp]

Its too bad he has all the injuries he was great when he was healthy. I could see him end up in Montreal watching and healing for a year or two behind AC.

[Coast Mountain Lion]

Thanks for the great times BP

dang, everytime someone types BP, I get a craving for my favorite pizza.

Yeah, there are two or three good places on The Drive. But none of them have an east coast US city in their name.

[SammyGreene]

LU's perspective on Buck's release:

Revolving door spins on
The Province
Lowell Ullrich

There may be some lingering uncertainty about the value of Buck Pierce as a CFL quarterback, but there now is rare clarity for the Lions at the position.
Pierce was given his unconditional release by coach/GM Wally Buono in a transaction that was foreseen by the pivot himself in The Province over a month ago.
Pierce wasn't about to suggest he knew his time was up the moment Casey Printers joined the Lions late last year, but woke up Tuesday knowing what was in store once Printers had signed a contract extension on the weekend for roughly the equivalent of his own deal.
And with so much time to prepare for the inevitable it was no surprise that Pierce took the same high road in leaving as when he arrived five years ago as an untested rookie behind Printers, Dave Dickenson and the stable of quarterbacks the Lions had at the time.
"Honestly its kind of a burden off my shoulders," Pierce said from his off-season home in Las Cruces, N.M.
"There's still a lot of football in me, and its now time to go out and prove it again. There's going to be a lot of opportunities."
There will be significantly more chances now that Pierce is no longer is holding the contract he signed a year ago which would have been worth in the order of $900,000 had he been given a chance to continue.
And what Buono will watch, though he said would be only with a passing interest, is whether teams will now bite on a free agent in Pierce, who figures to make considerably less.
Buono tried making a deal to get something for Pierce, putting considerable emphasis on the Argos, but the nuances of the league's salary management system made it impossible.
Toronto, ironically, made a deal to get its first quarterback under contract Tuesday, obtaining backup Dalton Bell from Saskatchewan.
"The frustrating part is that here is a guy [Pierce] who was a warrior for five years that we had to discard because we couldn't trade," Buono said. "I had no other recourse. I don't think it's a reflection of the individual but of the situation.
"If I'm another club, do I make a trade [for Pierce]? No. Did I try? Yes."
Yet as Buono may have his inability to make a deal re-examined depending on what lies ahead, Pierce is in search of a reputation makeover. Repeated injury problems spelled Pierce's demise with the Lions. The only issue was the timing of a decision, and with a roster bonus, described by the quarterback as "not much", due Monday, the move was inevitable.
But Pierce was adamant stating that past injuries are not indicative of his future worth, saying his concussion problems were embellished by virtue of the fact Dickenson had so many on his own before he was released.
"I'm more than 100 per cent. It was a little unfortunate with me following Dave that the concussion thing blew up a little and the media blew it up too," he said. "The main thing now is that teams are confident I can perform at a high level."
B.C., on the other hand, has an equally high salary-cap scenario.
Pierce became the 12th B.C. player to be dropped in the offseason, representing an estimated gross salary-cap reduction of $1.13 million.
The Lions are now down to four quarterbacks, a comfortable number to start training camp in June, but untested sophomore Zac Champion said after last year he would like a chance to play and implied he wouldn't mind going elsewhere if necessary.
Buono still needs at least one starting offensive lineman, and couldn't field a set of linebackers if the season started today, with only two under contract.
New to the free agent market is import Tim Johnson, who was released by the Calgary Stampeders Tuesday. Barrin Simpson is still available, and Buono spoke to him Tuesday, but two sources said the former B.C. all-star is close to a deal with another CFL club.
"If this is May, I might feel different [about Simpson], but I think we can get better going another way," Buono said.
Just as the Lions think they are better without Pierce.

B.C., on the other hand, has an equally high salary-cap scenario.
Pierce became the 12th B.C. player to be dropped in the offseason, representing an estimated gross salary-cap reduction of $1.13 million.

This is probably worth starting another thread as Wally has dumped a lot of salary, especially going back to the end of 2008 season with the release of Clermont, Floyd, Bates and Tyrone Williams, while Murphy walked

This year it's been Miles, Glatt, Jiminez, Smart, Armour, Glover, Pierce dropped from the payroll while Johnson has reportedly taken a significant pay cut as a part-time starter.

Notable payroll additions in the last 2 years: McKenzie, Printers, Sanchez, Keron Williams. Paris Jackson also got a sizable increase on his new deal.

Any other players poised for significant pay raises — Wake, Logan, Foley, Mallett — have bolted south. You wonder if the Lions will just sit on their cap space given there will be a revenue shortfall at Empire this season.

[Blue In BC]

I don't doubt the Lions won't spend up to the limit of the SMS.

I stated on another thread that I thought there would be a revenue shortfall because of the need to play at Empire site.

This was quickly shot down because people felt this would be made up by increased ticket prices.

Either way, I don't think teams play down their spend based on their short term revenue.

[Hambone]

A one year move to temporary digs will have zero impact on the way the Lions operate and manage their cap. In that regard they will function just as though they are playing out of BC Place. It's next to impossible to manage a sports cap on a season by season basis like many people work pay cheque to pay cheque because salary decisions are based on the fact most have cap ramnifications over several seasons. Besides that I'd be shocked if there wasn't some form of compensation to the Lions for 2010 included in the BC Place renovation project.

[WestCoastJoe]

Besides that I'd be shocked if there wasn't some form of compensation to the Lions for 2010 included in the BC Place renovation project.

I agree. With all the money thrown around on the Olympics, it would be small change to give the Lions a million dollars or 2 as compensation.

[Lionheart]

Just wondering; why not pay Pierce his bonus? The only reason our GM couldn't make a trade (besides dollar figure) is that everyone knew he would get released this week. There are teams out there who really need a qb, and Buck is a major asset. If the GM pays the bonus then he can keep him as long as it takes till one of these teams starts to sweet approaching training camp. I mean dam not being able to get anything for that asset sucks.

[Belize City Lion]

Just wondering; why not pay Pierce his bonus? The only reason our GM couldn't make a trade (besides dollar figure) is that everyone knew he would get released this week. There are teams out there who really need a qb, and Buck is a major asset. If the GM pays the bonus then he can keep him as long as it takes till one of these teams starts to sweet approaching training camp. I mean dam not being able to get anything for that asset sucks.

I don't think the bonus was the issue, rather the contract the Lions had with BP. They couldn't trade BP because he was too expensive... both for a future team to take a chance on given his injuries, and for the Lions to hang on to given they just spent some decent money on CP. No one would trade for BP at $300K per season when his "market value" at this point is probably half that. The only way the Lions were going to get anything for BP would be to keep him and CP around for the first part of the season, hope both were healthy and playing well, and that another team would be desperate for QB. With the SMS being what it is, WB doesn't have that luxury.

Releasing him was the only good option for both BP and the Lions.

[Hambone]

Just wondering; why not pay Pierce his bonus? The only reason our GM couldn't make a trade (besides dollar figure) is that everyone knew he would get released this week. There are teams out there who really need a qb, and Buck is a major asset. If the GM pays the bonus then he can keep him as long as it takes till one of these teams starts to sweet approaching training camp. I mean dam not being able to get anything for that asset sucks.

Cap space is an asset. If BC pays whatever bonus Pierce had coming it counts against the Lions' SMS, reducing what is left for the rest of the season. The bonus may not be all that significant but nonetheless not paying it becomes an asset. If it's $25K that is $25K more room for the Lions to utilize later this year than they'd otherwise have had they kept Pierce until training camp.

I really don't think any teams would be "sweating" any more approaching TC than they are now. Supply and demand Robert. The Lions have an oversupply of QBs and there is no demand for $300K backups. At $300K Pierce has an untradeable contract given with the exception of the Argos all teams are pretty much set for their top 2 QBs. It's tough to generate any trade value when there is only 1 team who might be willing and/or able to take that contract on and that team knows they are the only potential trading partner and also know the Lions can't afford to or justify keeping him.

[Blue In BC]

His bonus was reported at $80K

[WestCoastJoe]

I know it's early, but this team has more holes than swiss cheese...with question marks in every unit? "

I was pessimistic at this time last year. This year, although we have lost some players, I am more optimistic.

As much as I was a fan of Ricky Foley, defensive end, along with running back, is "relatively" easy to fill with imports. (I consider the strange episode of Gary Butler a somewhat rare misjudgment by Buono.)

Linebacker is a concern, for sure. It was totally screwed up last year. After losing Carl Kidd, Otis Floyd and Jamall Johnson, the cupboard was bare. IMO Javy was out of position in the middle and JoJuan was a desperation measure that didn't solve the problem. If Banks is still the tweener, then we really only need a middle linebacker. If Wally is passing on Barrin Simpson, he better have someone very good in mind.

DBs: lots of talent. Tackling not so good. Pass coverage is vulnerable when the D Line does not get pressure. IMO schemes are key here. IMO the better defences now use personnel rotation (in the D Line) and a variety of schemes to keep the defensive attack strong. Wally has not gone that way up to now. We'll see.

On offence we need a running back. Wally has always found one. Receivers should be fine, although we still need that game breaker outside along with Manny.

Offensive tackle is another spot that can be replenished relatively quickly with good personnel judgment.

I expect Casey Printers to give us elite level quarterbacking.

Protecting the QB through schemes or escapability is a key. I don't share the antipathy towards Jacques Chapdelaine that we see from many on here. IMO he is good enough as an OC.

All in all, that does not sound too bad to me. In fact, it is more promising than the last 2 years. IMO ...

One of the great strengths Wally has built over the years is non-import depth, although thin at receiver.