Yikes! Lions 2024 potential free agents

[DanoT]

Fairly big trade with Ceresna going to the Argos for Gittens Jr. Possible fallout from the Chad Kelly deal with maybe some input from Bethel Thompson. Potentially curbs an appetite the Elks may have had for Jevon Cottoy.

Also says someone is not returning from the Argo D line. Stay tuned.

Jones went out and got a 1000 yard Canadian receiver to fill a starting spot for one of his 7 only need apply positions - that was likely a big missing piece for him as last year's Canadian receivers who played some (Cobb & Forbes-Mombleau) did not produce that much; and Gittens had his big season working with new EE QB, MBT. Argos had other young National receivers (Brissett, Nield, Ungerer) who stepped-up to play well last year so they might feel they won't miss the bigger contract of Gittens that much.

OTOH - the Argos might be losing one or both of their 2 good DTs (Oakman & Hendrix) in FA so they acquired an even better DT (Ceresna as good as it gets there lately IMO); problem for Jones is though, he is unlikely to find a DT as good as Ceresna for a defence that has been weak to mediocre (for a supposed Jones' strong-suit - pffft); but maybe Jones will be able to sign Hendrix or Oakman ?

Could be a solid, good trade for both teams IMO. Star player for star player; neither real old; both with similar big CFL pay-days.

When it comes to D, Jones figures he is the smartest guy in the room, so in his mind he can let an all star go and then take any shlub off a scrap heap and turn him into a workable replacement for Ceresna....And he might be right and getting Gittens Jr. is a big deal.

[OV:54-40]

Fairly big trade with Ceresna going to the Argos for Gittens Jr. Possible fallout from the Chad Kelly deal with maybe some input from Bethel Thompson. Potentially curbs an appetite the Elks may have had for Jevon Cottoy.

Also says someone is not returning from the Argo D line. Stay tuned.

Jones went out and got a 1000 yard Canadian receiver to fill a starting spot for one of his 7 only need apply positions - that was likely a big missing piece for him as last year's Canadian receivers who played some (Cobb & Forbes-Mombleau) did not produce that much; and Gittens had his big season working with new EE QB, MBT. Argos had other young National receivers (Brissett, Nield, Ungerer) who stepped-up to play well last year so they might feel they won't miss the bigger contract of Gittens that much.

OTOH - the Argos might be losing one or both of their 2 good DTs (Oakman & Hendrix) in FA so they acquired an even better DT (Ceresna as good as it gets there lately IMO); problem for Jones is though, he is unlikely to find a DT as good as Ceresna for a defence that has been weak to mediocre (for a supposed Jones' strong-suit - pffft); but maybe Jones will be able to sign Hendrix or Oakman ?

Could be a solid, good trade for both teams IMO. Star player for star player; neither real old; both with similar big CFL pay-days.

When it comes to D, Jones figures he is the smartest guy in the room, so in his mind he can let an all star go and then take any shlub off a scrap heap and turn him into a workable replacement for Ceresna....And he might be right and getting Gittens Jr. is a big deal.

Agreed - in Jones' legend in his own mind, he can easily find superstar import D players (how'd that work out last season ?), but a starting Canadian 1000 yard receiver is something else.

Jones will be working real hard to find his 7 only Canadian starters for next season, and he might have come up with a real good one there.

And he might be able to replace Ceresna by singing one of the solid Argo DT FAs in Oakman (likely highly valued by Jones) or Hendrix.

[Toppy Vann]

The Elks make strange moves at times.

Maybe Ceresna was making it clear he was going FA and wanted out.

A trade gives them good quality here.

[SammyGreene]

3 Down Nation reporting the Lions have re-signed punter Stefan Flintoft

https://3downnation.com/2024/01/16/b-c- ... t-sources/

[Hambone]

The Elks make strange moves at times.

Maybe Ceresna was making it clear he was going FA and wanted out.

A trade gives them good quality here.

I was having difficulty deciding whether this trade was more puzzling for Edmonton or for Toronto but have since come to the conclusion it was a deal that made sense for both sides. Some here are making comments about DT Ceresna. Ceresna spent almost all of last year line up at DE which some Elks fans thought was out of position. I don't think the comment about "going FA" is valid. He just signed a new contract a year ago and won't be going to free agency until Feb 2025. Perhaps he requested a trade back east.?

Overall I think this is a case of ratio adjustments and receiver needs for Edmonton and Toronto preparing to lose some of their talented pending FA DL. The Argos have 3 pending FA DL and could well lose 1 or all of them. Ceresna is under contract thus effectively offsetting one of those losses.

Edmonton bounced their ratio around on D at times last year but based on offseason moves to date seem to have a clearer direction. They've released Konar who started all but 1 game at most of the season at WIL. They have a stable of young interior DL. They've recently extended Cole Nelson and Sam Acheampong. J-Min Pelley remains under contract although he reportedly just worked out for the Steelers.
Last year's rookie Noah Curtis is returning.

Of course they signed MBT removing the ratio edge they had with Ford at QB. Between that and Konar's release they are down 2 NAT starters from what they finished 2023 with. They also released Dunbar and really should pass on bringing the Manny Show back. That's 2 holes are receiver. Adding a talented NAT all-star calibre receiver is huge as it fills 2 needs with one player.

[don corleone]

The difference between Butler in 2021 and Mizzell in 2023 is that Butler noticeably improved over the course of the season, which gave some optimism for 2022, while Mizzell didn't seem to improve to the same extent in 2023. If anything, Mizzell may have regressed.

In 2021, in Butler's first 5 games, he averaged 21.8 yards/game and 2.8 yards/carry. Over his last 5 games of 2021, he averaged 71.8 yards/game and 6.3 yards/carry.

Mizzell's stats aren't up in CFL.ca yet for some reason, but I don't recall his numbers improving over the year.

Maybe Mizzell will progress in his second year. I wouldn't be handing him the job yet though.

There are so many different factors it is hard to say this is the one but.... Butler had 210 carries in 2022 and Mizzell only 157 in 2023. So much of it comes down to play calling and hard to argue when the pass game is clicking. The other side of it is Couture and Chung are road graders when it comes to run blocking, Scheming to take advantage is the challenge.

To some degree the entire short yardage offense needs to be looked at. Lesser stats but knowing they can pick it up on the ground when needed is something most fans would go for. For me Mizzell is a bit light at 185 on a 5'11" frame.

[OV:54-40]

Expecting this offence to change to feature more of and a diverse run game is iffy, IMO.

[SammyGreene]

Good article here from the Province's JJ Adams on the Hatcher signing. He is hoping to be back between weeks 10-13.

https://theprovince.com/sports/cfls-bes ... the-former

Meanwhile Kenny Lawler has re-worked his monster contract (by CFL standards) to give the Bombers more cap room

Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ receiver Kenny Lawler has restructured his contract for the 2024 season, per league sources.

The six-foot-two, 199-pound target received a $150,000 signing bonus to ink his new deal, which includes $115,000 in base salary, a $13,800 housing bonus, and a $7,200 travel bonus. In total, Lawler will earn $285,000 in hard money this year.

The 29-year-old was originally slated to earn $310,000 in 2024, though he’s expected to net more on his new deal as signing bonuses are taxed at a lower rate for American players. He had a $125,000 off-season roster bonus due on Monday, Jan. 15, which led to his deal being renegotiated.

So with Demski making $175,000, Collaros $600,000 and Stanley Bryant just signing a new 1-year deal, would love to know where the Bombers are going to find the money for Oliveria and Schoen.
$200,000 should be the starting point for both of them.

[don corleone]

So with Demski making $175,000, Collaros $600,000 and Stanley Bryant just signing a new 1-year deal, would love to know where the Bombers are going to find the money for Oliveria and Schoen.
$200,000 should be the starting point for both of them.

Bombers are in a tough spot.

What they really need is someone to replace Jake Thomas but they are already in cap trouble and focused on a 3rd high priced receiver (Schoen). Can't imagine Stanley Bryant or Patrick Neufeld were inexpensive either . No way they are players on Oakman or Hendrix or anyone else of note imo without some form of sms tom foolery going on.

Brady Oliviera will need to sign another one year deal and have a repeat performance before he gets paid. Very likely he takes a cap friendly home town discount to play in Winnipeg for 2024. The part that people like but never want to pay for is that he is a good blocker and a well rounded back but there are others. My guess is $150,000 ish gets it done which again is more than most teams are paying for a running back.

Never mind talk of Chris Streveler. Bomber theme song should be "Glory Days". I can see them missing the playoffs.

[Hambone]

Last year Bryant was 8th highest paid OL at $180K hard money including an $80K signing bonus. Turning 38 before training camp I don't think he received a raise. I think he might even be taking a bit of a haircut this year, perhaps something like $170K but with a bigger portion being in the form of a signing bonus.

Neufeld either didn't crack the top 20 highest paid OL last year or didn't release his numbers to JC Abbott who penned the OL article. Jermarcus Hardrick was the only other Bomber on the top 20 list coming in at #20 at $140K. At 35 I doubt Neufeld will suddenly be getting anything more than a nominal bump up. In the meantime Hardrick could be the guy who draws the short straw to help Walters free up money for the likes of Oliviera and Schoen.

[don corleone]

Last year Bryant was 8th highest paid OL at $180K hard money including an $80K signing bonus. Turning 38 before training camp I don't think he received a raise. I think he might even be taking a bit of a haircut this year, perhaps something like $170K but with a bigger portion being in the form of a signing bonus.

Neufeld either didn't crack the top 20 highest paid OL last year or didn't release his numbers to JC Abbott who penned the OL article. Jermarcus Hardrick was the only other Bomber on the top 20 list coming in at #20 at $140K. At 35 I doubt Neufeld will suddenly be getting anything more than a nominal bump up. In the meantime Hardrick could be the guy who draws the short straw to help Walters free up money for the likes of Oliviera and Schoen.

Bombers are going to need four or five ELC's to balance the big deals. In the past they used the new guys in the secondary and protected them with the blitz. Conversely their offense is designed to beat the oppostion's blitz and buy time for Collaros and the receivers to use the scramble drill. We'll see the brilliance of Danny McManus in how he fills the holes with fresh talent. It has not been a Bomber strong point imo.

[SammyGreene]

One of the players I thought might slip thru the salary cap cracks but instead a big re-signing of Alexander Hollins. Anyone wondering why Lucky Whitehead is deemed expendable only has to look at Hollins’ work since coming onto the roster in the 2nd half of the 2022 season. Only behind Hatcher in production since:
https://www.bclions.com/2024/01/17/bat ... ough-2025/

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions have also confirmed they’ve re-signed Stefan Flintoft.

https://www.bclions.com/2024/01/16/flin ... extension/

[don corleone]

One of the players I thought might slip thru the salary cap cracks but instead a big re-signing of Alexander Hollins. Anyone wondering why Lucky Whitehead is deemed expendable only has to look at Hollins’ work since coming onto the roster in the 2nd half of the 2022 season. Only behind Hatcher in production since:
https://www.bclions.com/2024/01/17/bat ... ough-2025/

Nice move to get Hollins wrapped up early. Only 27. Could be an outside chance he ends up as a league leader with the style of game he plays and V.A.'s penchant for putting it up.

As for Lucky, Terry Williams got the job he was brought in to do with the bonus for return tds and then never got a chance to return. I can see his schtick can get a little old but still think he is a good player. We saw a flash when he got into the game in the WF. Like everyone else maybe he ends up in Ottawa but they have Dedmon.

[Hambone]

I don't know if it deserves its own thread. It's almost like a free agent signing.

BC has signed their 2021 1st rd pick (4th overall) Daniel Joseph.

https://www.bclions.com/2024/01/17/defe ... ith-lions/