Yikes! Lions 2024 potential free agents

[Hambone]

Sad to the Lions unable to keep Jalen Edwards-Cooper who replaces gun toting Nic Marshall who assumably is tied up for the next while back home in Georgia.

Rider fans were already pretty much fed up with Marshall's high risk, high reward style mixed in with some indifference in effort. He liked being a ball hawk trying to bush sit for pick 6's but he tended to get burnt far more often than he made big plays.

[Toppy Vann]

Yeah Nic Marshall had gone off script numerous times and got burned more often than not.

So Betts could just marginally beat CFL money unless he's on the 53 man roster. If he's the type who wants the dream and can handle the pressures of that it makes sense for him.

Clearly he had no interest in being home town guy on the Als as a priorty.

[Toppy Vann]

3:10 p.m. EST — It isn’t easy being a veteran American pass rusher these days. Shawn Oakman, Dylan Wynn, Almondo Sewell, A.C. Leonard, Ja’Gared Davis and Woody Baron are all unsigned as we head into hour three.

[B.C.FAN]

3:10 p.m. EST — It isn’t easy being a veteran American pass rusher these days. Shawn Oakman, Dylan Wynn, Almondo Sewell, A.C. Leonard, Ja’Gared Davis and Woody Baron are all unsigned as we head into hour three.

I thought Wynn might be a good option for the Lions if they were serious about getting more stout in the middle. The Lions have Stove Richardson, Josh Banks. Tibo Debaillie and Marcus Moore as bigger-bodied veteran defensive linemen but Wynn is a 3-time divisional all-star who missed a lot of last season with injuries but can still play at a high level when healthy.

[Hambone]

3:10 p.m. EST — It isn’t easy being a veteran American pass rusher these days. Shawn Oakman, Dylan Wynn, Almondo Sewell, A.C. Leonard, Ja’Gared Davis and Woody Baron are all unsigned as we head into hour three.

Common theme is all are 30+. Some still can be an impact but a couple are clearly on the back 9 if not final few holes of their careers. Sewell is 37. He was still effective at 36 but signs of declining impact are there. I think he winds up back in Edmonton where they will hope to squeeze one final year out of him. Davis really slipped last year after being dominant previously. Wynn is very good when healthy but has missed 17 of 36 games in the past too years. Oakman, Leonard and Baron are certainly intriguing.

[Hambone]

Kind of interesting. 3D posted their top 50 of the available FAs as of the opening of free agency at 9am PST. So far only 4 have been scooped up with on #3 Tunde Adeleke going out of their top 34.

[B.C.FAN]

Quincy Mauger has signed with Toronto. I hope someone asks Rick Campbell or Neil McEvoy to explain the release of Mauger and Woody Baron.

[cromartie]

Farhan Lalji says he’s confirmed that Mathieu Betts will sign a futures contract with the Detroit Lions.

Ooof. Some guys just never learn.

Everything to gain, nothing to lose. I understand odds are not tilted in his favour but if he doesn't make their PS he'll have 9 CFL teams tripping over themselves to make him the highest paid CFL DE.

Make the 53 this year and he makes USD$795K (CDN$1.1M)
Make the PS this year and he makes USD$225K (CDN$306K)
Signs in the CFL now for probably $275K to absolute max of $300K.

He might not make it beyond rookie mini-camps in which case he's still able to fully collect on the CFL money. Worst case scenario is if he makes it all the way to final NFL cuts and fails to make the 53 or be offered a PS spot. Then he stands to lose out on 2/3 of CFL money for 2024. He comes out slightly ahead of the game if he lands a PS spot and of course might only be 1 injury away from turning PS money into game cheques. Betts spent time with Chicago before coming to Edmonton so obviously NFL has been on his mind since he came out of college. This is last crack at it. I don't blame him one bit for going for it. If he doesn't make it he can at least finish his career knowing he gave it a shot as opposed to wondering what if?

I don’t want to spend another seven pages on this, because my stance on this is pretty clear after 20 years here.

You aren’t getting NFL playing time, you aren’t making NFL money unless you are extraordinarily (he isn’t ) and sitting around in a press box not playing does no favors for your career development.

Unless you are Cameron Wake, for reasons that have been articulated here dozens of times, stay in Canada and be the best player in the league .

[SammyGreene]

There we go: Lions have signed Riders DE Pete Robertson

[squishy35]

There we go: Lions have signed Riders DE Pete Robertson

[OV:54-40]

Ooof. Some guys just never learn.

Everything to gain, nothing to lose. I understand odds are not tilted in his favour but if he doesn't make their PS he'll have 9 CFL teams tripping over themselves to make him the highest paid CFL DE.

Make the 53 this year and he makes USD$795K (CDN$1.1M)
Make the PS this year and he makes USD$225K (CDN$306K)
Signs in the CFL now for probably $275K to absolute max of $300K.

He might not make it beyond rookie mini-camps in which case he's still able to fully collect on the CFL money. Worst case scenario is if he makes it all the way to final NFL cuts and fails to make the 53 or be offered a PS spot. Then he stands to lose out on 2/3 of CFL money for 2024. He comes out slightly ahead of the game if he lands a PS spot and of course might only be 1 injury away from turning PS money into game cheques. Betts spent time with Chicago before coming to Edmonton so obviously NFL has been on his mind since he came out of college. This is last crack at it. I don't blame him one bit for going for it. If he doesn't make it he can at least finish his career knowing he gave it a shot as opposed to wondering what if?

I don’t want to spend another seven pages on this, because my stance on this is pretty clear after 20 years here.

You aren’t getting NFL playing time, you aren’t making NFL money unless you are extraordinarily (he isn’t ) and sitting around in a press box not playing does no favors for your career development.

Unless you are Cameron Wake, for reasons that have been articulated here dozens of times, stay in Canada and be the best player in the league .

Ha - interesting.

I went to a Detroit Lions fans site/ podcast type thing today, and the talking head there mentioned the Betts' signing and outright dismissed it as a TC body/fodder type signing; "under-sized" and WTF is the CFL anyhow.

Betts comes off a CFL D player of the year season; he is an outstanding pass rush talent (and no, he isn't Cam Wake). But another fairly recent CFL D player of the year type - LB Alex Singleton did garner an NFL look - and guess what - he did not just make a PR or play a bit of STs there, but has been one of the leading tacklers in the entire NFL for several seasons now - WTF, that musta been impossible or some kinda fluke i guess ?

And while I'm not an NFL expert in terms of knowledge of all teams rosters' including DE and pass rush talent, a quick check of the Detroit roster shows they had only one productive pass rusher (Hutchinson) last season with the other guys either doing little or else able to flee as FAs soon; they might draft heavy at DE / pass rush specialist though. They are also supposed to be known for giving under-rated or un-drafted guys shots. Maybe Betts and his agent sized up the situation there and thought it made decent sense for an NFL shot. Not sure Rourke and his agent got that last year.

Betts can take his shot there and maybe / likely (?) gets cut, but he will know he will have a bunch of CFL suitors willing to pay top D buck$ if he decides to return.

[SammyGreene]

Wonder if the Robertson signing is all the Lions will do for the defensive line with Nathan Cherry, Stove Richardson or possibly others pencilled in to replace Baron on the inside.
Or do they continue the 1-year signing theme with FAs and hope Sewell has one solid season left in his tank to add more stout in the interior?

You would think the secondary still has to be addressed with 2 vacant starting positions. The fact they decided to move on from Edwards-Cooper may indicate they want an entry level salary at field side corner. Unless Mike Jones is still in the picture.

Can't see them going with a rookie in TJ Lee's spot and who knows when he will be healthy enough to return. Argos vet Robertson Daniel appears to be the most qualified FA candidate. He picked off VA three times in that loss at BMO last season.

[B.C.FAN]

Ottawa has signed Phillip Norman to a one-year deal. He has certainly paid his dues as a utility lineman who can step into any position and play well.

[Hambone]

I don’t want to spend another seven pages on this, because my stance on this is pretty clear after 20 years here.

You aren’t getting NFL playing time, you aren’t making NFL money unless you are extraordinarily (he isn’t ) and sitting around in a press box not playing does no favors for your career development.

Unless you are Cameron Wake, for reasons that have been articulated here dozens of times, stay in Canada and be the best player in the league .

So what you're saying is Shelton Quarles, Brendan Ayanbadejo, O.J.Brigance, Harold Hasselbach, Jerrell Freeman, Jeff Garcia, Alex Singleton, Brett Jones, Sam Equavoen, DeAundre Alford, Brandon Browner, Dontrelle Inman, Mike Vanderjagt and Erik Harris to name a few should never have left the CFL to take their NFL shot. None are Cam Wake calibre and some aren't Mathieu Betts calibre either but all received plenty of NFL playing time and NFL money. In the mix are some 10 year careers, some Pro Bowls and a few Super Bowl rings. Why shouldn't Betts think he has a shot if these guys could make it? Certainly he isn't inferior in talent to them.

[don corleone]

Wonder if the Robertson signing is all the Lions will do for the defensive line with Nathan Cherry, Stove Richardson or possibly others pencilled in to replace Baron on the inside.
Or do they continue the 1-year signing theme with FAs and hope Sewell has one solid season left in his tank to add more stout in the interior?

You would think the secondary still has to be addressed with 2 vacant starting positions. The fact they decided to move on from Edwards-Cooper may indicate they want an entry level salary at field side corner. Unless Mike Jones is still in the picture.

Can't see them going with a rookie in TJ Lee's spot and who knows when he will be healthy enough to return. Argos vet Robertson Daniel appears to be the most qualified FA candidate. He picked off VA three times in that loss at BMO last season.

Robertson Daniel / Ciante Evans are probably looking at multiple offers. Both are a little older. Ed Gainey might come for a bit less money.

If the team is in it to win it experience is the way to go. I would not count on T.J. Lee for anything other than moral support this year. Salary will be exempt from the SMS and bonus if he does come back at full speed.