Potential Lions 2025 free agent list

[SammyGreene]

And Jeshrun Antwi is also apparently heading to Cowtown where he played his college ball.

https://3downnation.com/2025/02/04/calg ... i-sources/

We really need a kick return specialist who could also spell off Butler, especially with Mackie's status in limbo.

[Hambone]

BC's list of their own pending FAs who have neither been re-signed nor agreed to terms elsewhere is now down to 11:

DL - Josh Banks, Nathan Cherry, Marcus Moore
DB - Jalon Edwards-Cooper, Ciante Evans, TJ Lee
OL - Sukh Chungh, Michael Couture, David Knevel
RB - David Mackie
P - Stefan Flintoft

[SammyGreene]

BC's list of their own pending FAs who have neither been re-signed nor agreed to terms elsewhere is now down to 11:

DL - Josh Banks, Nathan Cherry, Marcus Moore
DB - Jalon Edwards-Cooper, Ciante Evans, TJ Lee
OL - Sukh Chungh, Michael Couture, David Knevel
RB - David Mackie
P - Stefan Flintoft

Very surprised there has been no interest in Mackie during the neg window. You don’t need a short yardage QB on your roster with him. Is his salary from a year ago scarring teams?

And to a lesser extent Hollins. He just turned 28 while older receivers like Rhymes and Jones are being signed. Maybe he is wanting too close to what he made last year or his inferior play over the 2nd half of last season has teams looking elsewhere. But if he returns to his early 2024 form he can be an impact player.
But who is even looking for a $180,000-$200,000 receiver now?

[don corleone]

The Tiger-Cats have also come to terms with Liam Dobson. I would like to know what Bombers GM Kyle Walters is doing with his cap space.
Between Bighill and Lawler they spent $450,000 last season that is now off their books. Schoen signed for less money than he made a year ago. Yes, Holm probably got a modest pay bump as an American DB and they have signed Peyton Logan & Gavin Cobb but I really thought Lawler or Ford would be staying put in a Grey Cup hosting season.

I feel sorry for Bomber fans as there has not been much to get excited about. Hope we are not looking at another half empty stadium for Grey Cup this year.

On the other hand they signed Dillon Mitchell to go along with Schoen, Demski, and Kevin Clercius. Oliviera and Peyton Logan are good players. They need to do some work on their lines and keep Collaros healthy. Also have holes on D that need to be filled. They'll need everything to go perfectly if they expect to play in that GC game and haven't even named the offensive co-odinator yet.

Plus the rats are jumping ship left and right.

[squishy35]

The Tiger-Cats have also come to terms with Liam Dobson. I would like to know what Bombers GM Kyle Walters is doing with his cap space.
Between Bighill and Lawler they spent $450,000 last season that is now off their books. Schoen signed for less money than he made a year ago. Yes, Holm probably got a modest pay bump as an American DB and they have signed Peyton Logan & Gavin Cobb but I really thought Lawler or Ford would be staying put in a Grey Cup hosting season.

I feel sorry for Bomber fans as there has not been much to get excited about. Hope we are not looking at another half empty stadium for Grey Cup this year.

On the other hand they signed Dillon Mitchell to go along with Schoen, Demski, and Kevin Clercius. Oliviera and Peyton Logan are good players. They need to do some work on their lines and keep Collaros healthy. Also have holes on D that need to be filled. They'll need everything to go perfectly if they expect to play in that GC game and haven't even named the offensive co-odinator yet.

Plus the rats are jumping ship left and right.

Jason Hogan was named OC in Winnipeg today and Jarious Jackson has been signed there as the QB coach.

[Hambone]

The Tiger-Cats have also come to terms with Liam Dobson. I would like to know what Bombers GM Kyle Walters is doing with his cap space.
Between Bighill and Lawler they spent $450,000 last season that is now off their books. Schoen signed for less money than he made a year ago. Yes, Holm probably got a modest pay bump as an American DB and they have signed Peyton Logan & Gavin Cobb but I really thought Lawler or Ford would be staying put in a Grey Cup hosting season.

I feel sorry for Bomber fans as there has not been much to get excited about. Hope we are not looking at another half empty stadium for Grey Cup this year.

On the other hand they signed Dillon Mitchell to go along with Schoen, Demski, and Kevin Clercius. Oliviera and Peyton Logan are good players. They need to do some work on their lines and keep Collaros healthy. Also have holes on D that need to be filled. They'll need everything to go perfectly if they expect to play in that GC game and haven't even named the offensive co-odinator yet.

Plus the rats are jumping ship left and right.

Winnipeg hasn't exactly been idle. Dobson may be a case of wanting to head back east. He is an Ontario guy. Otherwise they have 4/5 of their 2024 starting OL under contract while having Tui Eli who has started at LG in the past for them and 2024 2nd rounder Gabe Wallace to backfill for Dobson.

Logan I suspect will be in the same role as he was with Calgary. He will be their primary kick returner who will chip in with some rotational reps on offence, but other than that won't play much TB unless injuries occur.

8 of their own 12 they've extended are starters. They've added a starter and depth in Mitchell and Cobb. Despite losing Lawler adding them and a hopefully healthy (knock on wood) Schoen makes their receiving group deeper than last year. If there might be question marks it's on the other side of the ball where it looks like they lost youngsters in Garbutt and Haba who might be on an upwards trajectory. They still retained vets Jefferson and Thomas and look solid at LB extending Kyrie Wilson and Tony Jones for WIL and MAC with Gauthier for depth. Secondary is where they may have question marks. Losing Ford creates a big hole. While they've extended Holm & Parker they still haven't done the same with Alexander.

[Gridiron Ernie]

The Lions have re-signed Jalon Edwards-Cooper for 2025.
https://www.bclions.com/2025/02/04/defe ... -for-2025/

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions have re-signed Jalon Edwards-Cooper for 2025.
https://www.bclions.com/2025/02/04/defe ... -for-2025/

I’m happy with this. JEC is a good tackler who can play the pass well and attack downhill to stop the run.

[squishy35]

Looking at the available FA QB's, there isn't much out there left. Masoli, Dukes and Streveler are the highlights. Do the Lions gamble with Brice as 2nd string or do they try to get a bit more depth behind Rourke?

[don corleone]

Looking at the available FA QB's, there isn't much out there left. Masoli, Dukes and Streveler are the highlights. Do the Lions gamble with Brice as 2nd string or do they try to get a bit more depth behind Rourke?

Just looking at the same thing.

Could be Garrett Sharder is the answer at QB #3. He's a big guy and comes highly regarded,

Brice is a lock for #2 imo although in the event of an injury to Rourke it could be a dodgy situation.

It looks like Shea Patterson is out in Sask with Tommy Stevens signing but I like Dakota Prukop better who has worked with Buck previously and is an excellent player. Cam Dukes might be a nice add.

[B.C.FAN]

I’m happy with Brice as QB2. If anything happens to Rourke, I expect the Lions to trade for or pick up another experienced QB as they did in 2022.

[B.C.FAN]

The Lions have re-signed DL Marcus Moore through 2026.

[Hambone]

Looking at the available FA QB's, there isn't much out there left. Masoli, Dukes and Streveler are the highlights. Do the Lions gamble with Brice as 2nd string or do they try to get a bit more depth behind Rourke?

Just looking at the same thing.

Could be Garrett Sharder is the answer at QB #3. He's a big guy and comes highly regarded,

Brice is a lock for #2 imo although in the event of an injury to Rourke it could be a dodgy situation.

It looks like Shea Patterson is out in Sask with Tommy Stevens signing but I like Dakota Prukop better who has worked with Buck previously and is an excellent player. Cam Dukes might be a nice add.

It is slim pickings for sure. Of the few options left available I like Masoli by a mile for the combination of experience, ability and leadership. Unfortunately I think he'd likely opt for retirement before working for what makes sense for BC to pay.

Dukes would be next as he is young.and has some upside.

I wouldn't be banking on Streveler being ready for camp, maybe not even until closer to mid-season. I'm not convinced he can competently run a CFL offense for any extended period.

Patterson's ceiling looks to be journeyman backup who can chip in adequately on short yardage.

I don't share your enthusiasm for Prukop. He showed some promise......back in 2018. 2024 Elks were his 7th CFL stop since coming to the CFL back in 2017. He did go to the USFL for the chance to show he could run an offense. I don't think he earned himself a snap. In his last Winnipeg stint prior to that, 2022-23 played 27 games competing 11 of 22 passes. 18 of those attempts came in "garbage" action when the Bombers rested Collaros for the meaningless final game of both seasons. And of course last year Brice beat him out for #3 in BC as Prukop was cut only half way thru training camp. If not for an
above average ability to execute a short yardage offense his career would have been over 2 or 3 years ago..

[Odie]

Not totally understanding the Chase Brice fan club here. He hasn’t been bad, but he also hasn’t lit things up. When you watch a player like Travis Lulay, Mike Reilly, Buck Pierce, or Nathan Rourke, you know from the first snap they have something special, something electric. Brice doesn’t seem to have that and, although he can run the basic offence in. Garbage time, I would really question the wisdom of going into a season with him as the only viable option. He was beat out cleanly by Dolegala who struggled to even break the rotation in Winnipeg. With Rourke still a young starter, it would be nice to have either experience behind him (aka Masoli) OR to be using that roster spot for someone with a huge upside who might legitimately be a starter one day (like Dukes), or someone who can run a short yardage offence (Strevler)…. Brice doesn’t seem not seem to be any of those three. But- I am not a coach, nor do I have the benefit of film. Just an armchair fan questioning the process here. Had thought the lions would really look for a legitimate back up and am a little surprised they haven’t been more active in that regard.

[B.C.FAN]

Not totally understanding the Chase Brice fan club here. He hasn’t been bad, but he also hasn’t lit things up. When you watch a player like Travis Lulay, Mike Reilly, Buck Pierce, or Nathan Rourke, you know from the first snap they have something special, something electric. Brice doesn’t seem to have that and, although he can run the basic offence in. Garbage time, I would really question the wisdom of going into a season with him as the only viable option. He was beat out cleanly by Dolegala who struggled to even break the rotation in Winnipeg. With Rourke still a young starter, it would be nice to have either experience behind him (aka Masoli) OR to be using that roster spot for someone with a huge upside who might legitimately be a starter one day (like Dukes), or someone who can run a short yardage offence (Strevler)…. Brice doesn’t seem not seem to be any of those three. But- I am not a coach, nor do I have the benefit of film. Just an armchair fan questioning the process here. Had thought the lions would really look for a legitimate back up and am a little surprised they haven’t been more active in that regard.

I've watched Brice closely in training camp for the past two years and seen his command of the offence. He was a favourite of camp regulars, and clearly beat Dakota Prukop for No. 3 last year and might have been better than Jake Dolegala, but the Lions weren't ready to jettison both of their veteran backups before the season started. In the regular season, Brice showed good development, completing over 75% of his passes in limited action.

Lulay, Reilly, Pierce and Rourke all followed the same path as Brice, climbing up the Lions' depth chart by making the best of their opportunities. I'd rather give Brice a chance to progress than to bring in a recycled backup who has bounced around the league for years.