2014 free agents

[MexicoLionFan]

Nice post Blitz...its still a long off season though, but Wally has left a TON on his plate by not stepping up in the first 48 hours of FA...the CFL draft and 5 US tryout camps are being taxed heavily if they are being relied on to produce 4 or 5 key starters plus depth...

In a host GC year, I would have thought Wally would have gone all out...the last 3 host cities have all won the GC, including us...

[TheLionKing]

RedBlacks quietly putting together a competitive team

http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=443701

[TheLionKing]

Akeem Foster now an Eskimo

http://cfl.ca/article/fa14-foster-signs ... n-and-gold

[David]

I can live with losing Moore. An import receiver short of being a 3x all-star under 30 is not worth $175K a year. Certainly not irreplaceable. The one that stings the most is losing out on Butler. He's young (25), versatile (linebacker/safety), a hard hitter, ratio-changer, and IMO could have been very marketable. I would have been willing to "over pay" for this type of player.

Let's hope Matt McGarva can be "that guy" at safety.


DH

[Blitz]

I guess the $110,000 is a non-factor in his decision to leave.

Bell took $5,000 less to sign with Calgary and play for Stubler than he was offered here in B.C.

In fact we offered Butler more than Saskatchewan did and we offered Bourke more than Montreal did. The good ship Wally or the cool ship Benevedes are not attractive right now.

Of 56 free agents signed, we are the only team that was shut out. Its not looking like the good ship lollipop right now.

[SammyGreene]

I guess the $110,000 is a non-factor in his decision to leave.

Bell took $5,000 less to sign with Calgary and play for Stubler than he was offered here in B.C.

In fact we offered Butler more than Saskatchewan did and we offered Bourke more than Montreal did. The good ship Wally or the cool ship Benevedes are not attractive right now.

Of 56 free agents signed, we are the only team that was shut out. Its not looking like the good ship lollipop right now.

Read that too this morning Blitz regarding Bell ($111,000 BC and $105,000 Calgary) and was very surprised to say the least. Bell's CFL resumé is even less than Moore's and that was a very fair offer from the Lions. I never would have believed the Lions would offer Moore ($150,000) and Bell what they did and end up losing both of them.

“I’m not going to overpay for Josh Bell,” said Buono, who would have done exactly that had Bell taken B.C’s $111,000 offer instead of the $105,000 he accepted in Calgary, according to a source.

“We didn’t get outbid with Bourke (who re-signed with Montreal before free agency) and we didn’t get outbid with Butler (a London, Ont., native who signed for a reported $160,000 with Hamilton). If the offer from Hamilton was every bit as good as ours, why not take it?

“It was disappointing, but it doesn’t preclude us from finding other players. The ship ain’t sinking. We’ll develop our own. Free agency is just a way of fixing things.”

LU's story also said the Lions matched Hamilton's offer ($160,000) for Butler but he chose to go back east. If Nick Moore is getting $170,000 from the Bombers then a 25-year-old ratio changing safety/LB is worth at least $180,000 in this new salary era. I wish Wally would have opened up the purse strings even more on that one.

Like you said, the Lions perception among even their own FAs isn't what it used to be. LU said players are factoring in potential playoff bonus money as well when making their decisions.

[JohnHenry]

Akeem Foster now an Eskimo

http://cfl.ca/article/fa14-foster-signs ... n-and-gold

The Lions have done a good job restocking our divisional opponents, trading K. Banks to Wpg along with losing N. Moore; Geroy to Sask; firing Stubler who went to Cal along with J. Bell. Edm has rebuilt their OL with ex-Lions, signing J. Sorenson, Andrew Jones and picking up A. Baboulos, whom the Lions left unprotected at the end of 2013 (oops!) The Lions lost more OL depth with S. Myddleton signing in Ham. The Esks also acquired receiver A. Foster and coach J. Jackson.

[WestCoastJoe]

As Vince Lombardi shouted in a video taped during a game: "What the hell is going on here?"

Now we hear that Wally's offers were competitive. Surprising, as he is known to be tight with the dollars. But more surprising, is that his better offfers were rejected in favour of lower offers by other teams.

WTF?

http://www.theprovince.com/sports/footb ... story.html

They were aggressive, just as coach Mike Benevides predicted. Bold, too. But as a first step in a plan to improve through free agency, it was one big swing and a miss by the B.C. Lions Tuesday.

What does this say about the Lions organization? What the hell happened?

The CFL team took the unusual step of releasing its free agency blueprint on Twitter before the league’s annual talent auction got underway, which may have left free-speech advocates applauding but made the first-day result both unproductive and embarrassing.

It is embarrassing to be rejected in favour of Hamilton for "lifestyle" choices. Or is it really about leadership choices?

B.C. also missed out on Craig Butler, Shea Emry and Josh Bourke (see list below), and a less confident general manager might wonder if the recent trade of Korey Banks to resolve a contract impasse wasn’t having an unintended effect among players in search of a proper fit.

Ripple effect, fallout from the Korey Banks fiasco?

“The one thought I kept saying to myself over and over again was that our philosophy is not to buy players but find players,” Buono said. “When we’ve taken that approach we’ve always gotten better.”

Self counsel. When in doubt, self counsel.

"find players" ... Fine. Build from within. But this present situation is about trying to play the free agency game and coming up empty. Thus the introspection.

And meanwhile, we have not been doing all that well building from within.

Look at our D Line. Keron Williams came over as a free agent from Montreal. That is not building from within. Eric Taylor came over from Toronto. Veteran Khreem Smith learned his game down south.

Look at our O Line. Ben Archibald learned his CFL trade in Calgary. Patrick Kabongo in Edmonton. The departed Steve Myddleton in Calgary. The retired Jesse Newman learned his trade in Calgary. Four guys who spent time on our practice roster are with other teams: Myddleton, Baboulas, Jones and Albright.

Similarly, the Lions were of the belief their offer to Butler would be attractive as they believed he wanted to play safety and would win out on lifestyle alone. The 25-year-old moved to the Lower Mainland to be with his girlfriend after three seasons with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the Lions thought that gave them an edge. Not so.

“The offers were pretty much the same,” Buono said of Butler, who agreed on a deal with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats reportedly worth in excess of $150,000. “It was where he wanted to play. He’s making a decision on lifestyle.”

Hamilton tourism officials take note.

Butler moves to the West Coast. And he signs with Hamilton for similar money because of "lifestyle." ???!!!???

At this point, it probably wouldn’t surprise the Lions if another free agent, Josh Bell, took a reported six-figure offer being waved at him by the Calgary Stampeders, or if Keron Williams also left after the Lions let him twist for nearly two months before making him an offer.

Yeah, that's it. Make Keron sweat for two months. Just like we made Korey sweat and stew for months.

Buono’s only other contract offer from his initial play is to veteran non-import offensive lineman Wayne Smith, but based on their first day of free agency he might be better off putting in a call to Sherko Haji-Rasouli to lure him out of retirement.

LOL ... Laughing but crying inside. Wayne Smith? I'd rather have Baboulas, Jones, Myddleton or Albright, guys who have flown the coop.

"What the hell is going on here?"

Did the ballgame change that much, and did we not notice? Why are players rejecting solid offers from the Lions and choosing to play in Hamilton for "lifestyle" reasons. Is this about the bargaining atmosphere, is this about some payback for lack of loyalty, for poor working relationships, for disrespect, for arrogance?

[WestCoastJoe]

So on a day when Josh Bell left for Calgary as predicted, and when the last of five tweeted contract offers was rejected by returning Toronto OL Wayne Smith, all that was left was the hope for something better, because at the moment the Lions are only leading the league in social media.

No dance partners left.

(And we were rejected in our pursuit of Paul LaPolice and George Cortez also.)

What happened to the flagship of the CFL?

OK change channels. Switch the attention. Focus on building from within. Forget about losing Baboulas, Albright and Myddleton from an already suspect NI O Line roster. We can replace those guys with the draft, right? (Meantime Andrew Jones and Justin Sorensen will be on rosters other than B.C.)

So let's say Ted Laurent does not catch on with an NFL team. Is there a chance he would accept an offer to play football with what suddenly seems like the unpopular stepchild of the CFL?

What the hell has happened?

Are the Lions' brass content with our D Line roster from last year? Will we find any nuggets in our American free agent camps?

Concerned? Yes. But the concern right now is about the strangeness of the Lions being rejected for "lifestyle" reasons. It seems we cannot even build through free agency by making outstanding offers. WTF?

"Flagship" ... I guess that status is long gone.

As Blitz noted, this is not the first time we have seen slip sliding here on Wally's watch. Things got shaky from 2008 to mid 2011. And now they seem to be getting shaky again. Is it possible the amazing run of 2011 kept us from seeing decay within the organization?

I can't help but feel that Wally is going to have to pull some rabbits, and football players, out of a hat this year.

[TheLionKing]

If the Lion offers were comparable with other teams' offer and the player decides to accept the other, is it really Buono's fault ?

[WestCoastJoe]

If the Lion offers were comparable with other teams' offer and the player decides to accept the other, is it really Buono's fault ?

If Buono offers more money to Josh Bell than Hufnagel offers, and Bell accepts the offer from Calgary, what does that say? Is that not a slight to Buono and the Lions?

I dunno, TLK, but something is not right. Or at least something does not seem right to this fan.

This is new for the B.C. Lions.

There was a time when lifestyle choices meant players would choose to play here, for less money. That seems to have changed, dramatically.

Now they choose Hamilton, for "lifestyle" reasons?

Or is it possible the players see a team on the rise in Hamilton? Is it possible that Kent Austin makes a great sales pitch?

We don't know the details of the negotiations, but to me, it seems something is not right with our Lions.

O for 5 on our offers, even if they are for more money.
..........

Bell leaves, and praises up how much he liked playing for Rich Stubler. Something about that does not sit right with this Lions' fan.
..........

And, as noted, we pursued Paul LaPolice for OC. Was that naive? He rejected our offer.

Then we pursue George Cortez. Was that naive? He rejected our offer.

Like I quoted: "What the hell is going on here?"
.............

My biggest concern: Our already thin NI O Line roster has been gutted. We have lost Matt Albright, Adam Baboulas and Steve Myddleton.

We have Angus Reid, Kirby Fabien, Patrick Kabongo, Dean Valli, and Matt Norman on our roster as non imports. There are age and injury considerations there. As well as talent considerations and youth.

[TheLionKing]

Wonder if the cost of living on the West Coast is a factor ?

[Shi Zi Mi]

Well.....I'll be interested to see where Buono goes from here. If you take a look at the roster, the Lions have 2 quality NI olineman under contract.....and one, Fabien, is coming back from a serious knee injury.......they lost Matt Albright to Ottawa and Myddleton to hamilton.........so where does Buono find the NI olineman that he needs?

You won't find them at tryout camps and teams are unwilling to trade any of theirs......so how do you form a quality oline when you don't have the players?

Well, one will probably be an import (to replace Ben Archibald), which leaves a need for one NI guard. Not necessarily mission impossible.

I beg to differ.....Buono put us in that position last year....and after the injury to Fabien, our offense was toast.

Valli and Kabongo should not be on the team....period....if they were released today, no other team would pick them up. Angus Reid is going to retire.

So for the 3 NI starters plus 2 quality backups positions......we have a total of 2 quality NI lineman.......which leaves us 3 short as of today. Buono is once again down on his knees praying for best case scenario (like last year).....praying that Hunter Stewart doesn't get any NFL interest, is willing to report to the Lions and can be a starter 1st year........praying that Danny Watkins gets cut from the NFL and is willing to play for the Lions......praying that they can draft at least 2 quality NI olineman that do not have NFL aspirations, but are still good enough to step up and start in year 1, should injury occur to a starter.

That's a helluva lot of praying !!

Import players can be replaced quite easily if your scouting department does even a half assed job..........but NI's capable of starting are very difficult to find.....damn near impossible during the season and quite difficult any other time.

So what does Buono do if his prayers aren't answered (as in 2013)?.....simple, we have a repeat of 2013.

[The_Pauser]

Wonder if the cost of living on the West Coast is a factor ?

Perhaps, though I too am fearing that we might be seeing the negative results of the Geroy Simon and Korey Banks situations. If that's how we treat our loyal star players, why would people want to come here?

[JohnHenry]

If the Lion offers were comparable with other teams' offer and the player decides to accept the other, is it really Buono's fault ?

If Buono offers more money to Josh Bell than Hufnagel offers, and Bell accepts the offer from Calgary, what does that say? Is that not a slight to Buono and the Lions?

I dunno, TLK, but something is not right. Or at least something does not seem right to this fan.

This is new for the B.C. Lions.

There was a time when lifestyle choices meant players would choose to play here, for less money. That seems to have changed, dramatically.

Now they choose Hamilton, for "lifestyle" reasons?

Or is it possible the players see a team on the rise in Hamilton? Is it possible that Kent Austin makes a great sales pitch?

We don't know the details of the negotiations, but to me, it seems something is not right with our Lions.

O for 5 on our offers, even if they are for more money.
..........

Bell leaves, and praises up how much he liked playing for Rich Stubler. Something about that does not sit right with this Lions' fan.
..........

And, as noted, we pursued Paul LaPolice for OC. Was that naive? He rejected our offer.

Then we pursue George Cortez. Was that naive? He rejected our offer.

Like I quoted: "What the hell is going on here?"

Many other CFL teams have become attractive with new stadiums or progressive young coaches like Milanovich, Austin and now C. Jones and M. O'Shea (who are perhaps better salesmen for FA).

The Lions have two new coordinators who are a bit of question mark compared to a Cortez, Dickenson or Stubler. They could turn out to be excellent coaches along with the steadying influence of PaoPao with the receivers.

Hopefully the Lions and their new U.S. scouts can uncover some top prospects at their 5 FA camps (the Ticats are hosting 10). Recruitment and player evaluation has seemed to suffer a bit over the past couple seasons, with holes not being filled while seemingly good prospects get released.

An option might be to start 3 import OL, which should be doable starting a Canadian RB. Haidara, P. Jackson, Iannuzzi and Kito Poblah could be given bigger roles in the offence. Add in a couple new DB's and DL'men (and a healthy Lulay), then nobody will be concerned about signing other team's castoffs.