Lions cuts

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions have released 12 players, including veteran DB Marcus Sayles and second-year DB Siriman Bagayogo, and have added 10 others to the practice roster.

June 2, 2024

Signed to practice roster agreements:

American wide receiver Stanley Berryhill
American defensive lineman Juliano Falaniko
National linebacker Terrence Ganyi
Global punter/kicker Carl Meyer
National wide receiver Kieran Poissant
American wide receiver Devin Ravenel
National defensive back Charlie Ringland
American defensive lineman Jonah Tavai
American running back Jordan Terrell
American offensive lineman Kory Woodruff

Released from the roster:

American running back Percy Agyei-Obese
National defensive back Siriman Bagayogo
American defensive lineman Sam Burton
American defensive back Chris Cooper
American wide receiver Jeff Cotton
American offensive lineman Jean Delance
American wide receiver Ed Lee
American linebacker Forrest Rhyne
American wide receiver Jalen Sample
American defensive back Marcus Sayles
American defensive lineman Demetrius Taylor
American offensive lineman Maea Teuhema

[B.C.FAN]

Sayles is a surprise. He missed part of training camp, which gave American rookie Ronald Kent and Canadian draft pick Christophe Beaulieu quality reps at halfback. Both survived the cuts. With national DBs Adrian Greene, Patrice Rene and Beaulieu on the roster, Bagayogo didn't show enough development to stick as a rare fourth national in the secondary. Rookie national Charlie Ringland was added to the practice roster as expected.

[SammyGreene]

Didn’t see an all-rookie field side of the secondary with Kent and Perryman but it puts the Lions in a better situation from a salary cap perspective especially if Lee returns at some point. Just a little surprising to see a somewhat bold move in a Grey Cup hosting year.

[Hambone]

Sayles' salary may have contributed. He was set to make $127.8K hard money including $10K already paid in offseason bonus. He was also slated to get an additional $10K for the first game he suited up for to bring value up to $137.8K. He stood to earn another $6K if he earned some all-star awards.

[Hambone]

Didn’t see an all-rookie field side of the secondary with Kent and Perryman but it puts the Lions in a better situation from a salary cap perspective especially if Lee returns at some point. Just a little surprising to see a somewhat bold move in a Grey Cup hosting year.

Just splitting hairs but it might not be an all-rookie field side. During camp Kent was mostly taking reps in TJ Lee's boundary DHB spot. They may continue with that leaving Peters and Kent on the boundary side with Greene at S, Evans and Perryman at field DHB & CB respectively. I guess we'll see when the Wk 1 depth chart gets released on Saturday. Or maybe if a Lionbacker happens to catch their practices this week.

[SammyGreene]

Didn’t see an all-rookie field side of the secondary with Kent and Perryman but it puts the Lions in a better situation from a salary cap perspective especially if Lee returns at some point. Just a little surprising to see a somewhat bold move in a Grey Cup hosting year.

Just splitting hairs but it might not be an all-rookie field side. During camp Kent was mostly taking reps in TJ Lee's boundary DHB spot. They may continue with that leaving Peters and Kent on the boundary side with Greene at S, Evans and Perryman at field DHB & CB respectively. I guess we'll see when the Wk 1 depth chart gets released on Saturday. Or maybe if a Lionbacker happens to catch their practices this week.

Thanks Hambone. Well he bounced back with a solid game on Friday but the Stamps feasted on him with their first-teamers in week one. But it seems like the Lions have been high on him all along.

[Hambone]

Still a bit of a log jam in some position groups. After taking the existing roster and parsing out Catchings & Chen who were cut a few days ago, those released and those added to the PR I come up with 50 names left on the active roster. There still is an overabundance of OL listed with 9 and DL with 10. BC usually dressed 6 OL last year and 9 DL including ST ace Josh Archibald. Given Cherry hasn't been a full participant in camp I suspect he will start the season on the 1G. The OL is the more interesting group. Maybe they go out of character and dress 7. I think Una gets hangnailitis and gets stashed on the 1G with at least 2 other OL discovering it's contagious.

Overall they have 21 Americans, 2 Globals & 24 NATs & 3 QBs on the active roster. That means 1 American and either 1 Global and 3 NATs or 0 Globals and 4 NATs won't be on the game roster. I'm leaning towards Schleuger being the American with Rouyer being the Global with the 3 NATs being Cherry, Una and 1 of Packer, Peirson or Pickett. If the dress Rouyer and Debaillie then the 4 NATs will still come out of that group.

[B.C.FAN]

Still a bit of a log jam in some position groups. After taking the existing roster and parsing out Catchings & Chen who were cut a few days ago, those released and those added to the PR I come up with 50 names left on the active roster. There still is an overabundance of OL listed with 9 and DL with 10. BC usually dressed 6 OL last year and 9 DL including ST ace Josh Archibald. Given Cherry hasn't been a full participant in camp I suspect he will start the season on the 1G. The OL is the more interesting group. Maybe they go out of character and dress 7. I think Una gets hangnailitis and gets stashed on the 1G with at least 2 other OL discovering it's contagious.

Overall they have 21 Americans, 2 Globals & 24 NATs & 3 QBs on the active roster. That means 1 American and either 1 Global and 3 NATs or 0 Globals and 4 NATs won't be on the game roster. I'm leaning towards Schleuger being the American with Rouyer being the Global with the 3 NATs being Cherry, Una and 1 of Packer, Peirson or Pickett. If the dress Rouyer and Debaillie then the 4 NATs will still come out of that group.

Couture has been limited in camp, and Packer has moved up the depth chart to split first-team reps with him, even on Friday when Couture started the game. I'm not sure what is ailing him, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Couture start the season on the injured list, with Packer starting at centre and Peirson dressing as the sixth O-lineman.

[Hambone]

Didn’t see an all-rookie field side of the secondary with Kent and Perryman but it puts the Lions in a better situation from a salary cap perspective especially if Lee returns at some point. Just a little surprising to see a somewhat bold move in a Grey Cup hosting year.

Just splitting hairs but it might not be an all-rookie field side. During camp Kent was mostly taking reps in TJ Lee's boundary DHB spot. They may continue with that leaving Peters and Kent on the boundary side with Greene at S, Evans and Perryman at field DHB & CB respectively. I guess we'll see when the Wk 1 depth chart gets released on Saturday. Or maybe if a Lionbacker happens to catch their practices this week.

Thanks Hambone. Well he bounced back with a solid game on Friday but the Stamps feasted on him with their first-teamers in week one. But it seems like the Lions have been high on him all along.

We could still see some unexpected moves. One of the things that has impressed me about the duo of Campbell and McEvoy is how they've built a roster with tremendous depth and ratio flexibility. They could start Wk 1 with several combinations to choose from in the secondary. About the only thing that is guaranteed is Peters will start at BCB. Beyond that potentially anything goes. Ciante Evans is known more as a DHB but played mostly FCB for Montreal last year. For some reason I think he's more accustomed to being on the field side but with the change of hash marks I'm not sure that matters as much as it once did. Greene has gotten starts at FCB and S. Rene has shown ability to play both and was getting lots of reps at S in camp. Beaulieu looked great in camp playing a variety of positions. Conceivably they could shift Evans to BHB and start NATs at S & FCB with Kent being depth. Or they could 1G Kent and start Schleuger at LG where he seemed to be getting more and more 1st unit reps as camp progressed. Many options.

[Hambone]

Couture has been limited in camp, and Packer has moved up the depth chart to split first-team reps with him, even on Friday when Couture started the game. I'm not sure what is ailing him, but I wouldn't be surprised to see Couture start the season on the injured list, with Packer starting at centre and Peirson dressing as the sixth O-lineman.

The beauty of having a deep roster and ratio flexibility is they can cover for just about every circumstance without a big drop off,

[maxlion]

Lots of changes in the secondary with Lee out, Mauger and Sayles cut, Edwards-Cooper gone. I thought they were pretty strong last year so it is surprising to see so much turnover. I have lots of confidence in Phillips to make these decisions, but it might take some time for things to settle and gel.

[B.C.FAN]

Lots of changes in the secondary with Lee out, Mauger and Sayles cut, Edwards-Cooper gone. I thought they were pretty strong last year so it is surprising to see so much turnover. I have lots of confidence in Phillips to make these decisions, but it might take some time for things to settle and gel.

Phillips has been known to shake up his entire secondary at the start of the season, shuffling players into positions they didn’t practice in training camp. It doesn’t deem to make sense but it has worked. This year’s DBs are probably more adaptable to changes in position than those of recent seasons. Evans, Greene and Rene have played at several positions. Beaulieu has played HB and safety in camp. American rookies Kent (HB) and Perryman (CB) are the only DBs who haven’t practised at other positions.

[Hambone]

Lots of changes in the secondary with Lee out, Mauger and Sayles cut, Edwards-Cooper gone. I thought they were pretty strong last year so it is surprising to see so much turnover. I have lots of confidence in Phillips to make these decisions, but it might take some time for things to settle and gel.

BC also had possibly the CFL's most expensive secondary last year. Sayles, Lee and Peters were ranked 3, 4 & 8 respectively for hard money in the 20 Highest Paid DBs. The question isn't so much what will these youngsters be like and will they gel in July but rather what will the group be like come October?

[David]

The beauty of having a deep roster and ratio flexibility is they can cover for just about every circumstance without a big drop off,

Except at quarterback.

*laughs*...but then soon wipes the smirk off his face.


DH

[David]

They have taken a bit of a gamble by cutting Sayles as there was already going to be instability in the backfield with the Lee injury and the departure of JEC. However, as rookies, Kent and Perryman might have been too good to pass up (despite he stellar play Friday, Kent did not have a great game in Calgary). I am delighted with what I've seen from Beaulieu and Rene. Greene going to be that much better as well going into his 3rd year. Can see him subbing in at field corner for Perryman with Rene at safety.

Where I thought the club played it safe was at returner and punter. I believe they could have taken a bit of gamble here and potentially upgraded.

Demetrius Taylor being cut was a surprise for me. Wasn't he part of the 4 cracks from the 1 Dline crew on Friday?Maybe he refused a PR role?



DH