Lionbackers.com

Looks like Jarious Jackson has some decisions ahead, in terms of which team he'll play for next season. Both Toronto and Winnipeg have now made offers, as well as our B.C. Lions and a fourth CFL team has now made contact with Jackson.

Jarious Jackson had his best season with our Leos in 2007, winning 9 of his 11 starts that season, his first season as a starter with our Leos. Jackson thrived in the diversified Steve Kruck led offence, leading our Leos to some exciting comeback victories as we finished first in the West.

When our Leos are trying to sign a Steven Lefors as an experienced backup, in anticipation of potentially losing Jarious Jackson, it demonstrates that experienced backup quarterbacks are not out there as a dime a dozen. Also, as a Leo team captain and tremendous loyal soldier, Jackson's contribution to our Leos, is signficant..as one Leo vet stated in the article below..."I don't know if Wally knows how much he means to our locker room".

However, Jackson could also thrive in a different offence. Give Jackson time to throw and some fleet receivers, and he is a very dangerous quarterback..as many opposition defensive players and coaches have stated in the past. Chapdelaine's ball control short passing offence has never been a good fit for Jackson, as it wasn't for Printers before him or Buck Pierce, whose play and decision making got worse the longer he played in it.

I can see Jackson going to Toronto, where he is a better player than Lemon or even Winnipeg, where he would compete with his often injured former teammate Buck Pierce. Jackson is also young, in terms of the fact that his body has not taken a lot of enduring punishment due to his backup role with our Leos during most of this career here.

However, I wish we could keep him. If not, we go into 2011, without an experienced quarterback on the roster and finding a quality one, like Jackson, will be very difficult. Finding a backup quarterback who brings the leadership and intangibles that Jackson brings to our Leos will be impossible.

VANCOUVER — A 33-year-old Canadian Football League quarterback who has won 65 per cent of his games as a starter and has more experience than anyone available his age should figure to generate at least a little free-agent interest.

Sure enough, though the CFL signing period seemingly almost ended before it began last week, it’s only now heating up for Jarious Jackson in ways that may not be beneficial to the B.C. Lions.

Two weeks after reports suggested his return to the Lions was imminent, Jackson now has offers from two other teams and was waiting Sunday on the prospect of a third alternate proposal after another club made contact on the weekend.

Content at first to stay quiet and handle his own contract, Jackson also made Dan Vertlieb of Vancouver his agent on the weekend. Vertlieb wouldn’t talk specifics, but it is believed Lions coach and general manager Wally Buono is now not only facing a challenge from the Toronto Argonauts, as had been reported, but the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

B.C. remains in the running, Vertlieb said, stating their offer was solid for the role envisioned for him by the club, though it was reported Jackson turned down a pitch without playing time incentives worth $125,000 next year.

But the emergence of interest elsewhere has given Jackson reason to believe there are clubs who see him as a candidate to be a starter and will give him a chance.

“From the end of the season to now his thought process has evolved from getting the best deal to remain in a great situation to exploring some exciting opportunities,” Vertlieb said Sunday.

“The upside of being a starter in a new destination is maybe more attractive than being a backup, but you have to weigh the risk.”

Buono reassessed the risk of being without an experienced backup last week when he offered a free-agent contract to three-year pro Stefan LeFors.

Losing Jackson, a B.C. captain despite his backup role, would hurt in ways not evident by statistics, however.

“I don’t know if Wally knows how much he means to our locker-room,” one veteran said last week.

Jackson and tackle Ben Archibald remain among the few free agents still on the market with experience and Buono continued to work on signing both during the weekend. The absence of a bidding competition until now for Jackson, according to his new agent, stems from published suggestions he remains a medical risk.

“His value was being completely misconstrued,” Vertlieb said.

“He’s had virtually no injuries with the exception of a (shoulder) pinhole tear where surgery occurred (in 2009) later than it should have. He’s two years younger than (Calgary’s) Henry Burris, only two years older than (Toronto’s) Cleo Lemon and he’s younger than Doug Flutie when he left for the NFL.”

Argos coach and general manager Jim Barker, who saw Lemon struggle last year, told the Toronto Sun on the weekend after speaking with Jackson his interest would be conditional upon seeing the quarterback throw for an extended period.

Joining Winnipeg would mean Jackson would compete with ex-B.C. teammate Buck Pierce.

The decision for Jackson remains determining the best fit.

Vancouver Province

Jarious Jackson deserves to be considered for these opportunities. IMO he was often taken for granted here in B.C.

His relatively low completion percentage, his seeming inconsistency, and his poor touch on short passes can easily turn people away, compared to high percentage passers.

Wally's best chance to get him signed up was a bit earlier this year. That opportune time would seem to be past. Now, to get him signed, it might take quite a bit more money. Or, if he gets a chance to compete for starter, with a better offer than Wally can make, we will lose him from our roster.

I would echo what has been said about his presence in the locker room, and his importance to the morale of the team. All you had to do was talk with him once or twice, or see him at practice a few times, and you saw he was a special person and player.

He is one of my all time favourite Lions' players, and I sincerely hope we are lucky enough to keep him on our team.

If not, I wish him well. He is the ultimate soldier, in football or war, the kind of guy you want next to you in good times and bad.

Well, I do hope he lands somewhere and tries to make his way on a new team, it is not that he is not wanted in BC as he is hands down better than Lefours.

But a player should WANT to compete and be "the guy" something I seriously doubt will ever happen in BC.

JohnHenry wrote: It is rumoured that S. Jyles is available (if the Bombers sign JJ) and one of Q. Porter/A. Trafalis in Ham...who all seem more promising prospects that S. LeFors.

I hope we land Jyles or Porter. Jyles would be preferable as he'd slide into a backup role much better than Porter who would likely be hoping to start. Jyles has been a backup all his career and has played well when called upon, especially last year in Winnipeg. IMO he's a big improvement over what we had in Jarious, with the exception of leadership.

JohnHenry wrote:You know the Lions aren't likely paying Lulay much, so you'd think they could find another $25k for JJ to get this deal done? We have no Ray, Cavillo or Burris with $400k+ contracts and the Lions underbid on every free agent prospect.

I couldn't agree more. Here we are, going into a Grey Cup hosting season with cap space and a refurbished stadium, making money hand-over-fist, and we could be playing with an inexperienced back-up quarterback.

Now, armed with an agent and potential bidding war, Jarious could be more expensive to sign than a fair offer a month ago.

And, for the record, Quinton Porter sucks. If he can't make his first read in a nano-second, he's pulling the ball down and running. And he'd probably cost us more than Jarious - with no leadership skills.

DH

JohnHenry wrote:

WestCoastJoe wrote:
Wally's best chance to get him signed up was a bit earlier this year.

Yep, and Wally's offer:

"It was reported Jackson turned down a pitch without playing time incentives worth $125,000 next year."

"Buono: I was under the impression we were going to get [a counter-offer] he felt was more in line. He thought I was going to give him a new [offer], when I thought we had already done that"..."He felt our offer was light but we could come to a compromise."

That seems like a pretty crummy offer for Jarious, $125k with no playing time incentives? I guess that was Wally's "hook into the water hazard" tee-off offer for Jarious and not his "hole in one."

You know the Lions aren't likely paying Lulay much, so you'd think they could find another $25k for JJ to get this deal done? We have no Ray, Cavillo or Burris with $400k+ contracts and the Lions underbid on every free agent prospect. Sometimes we come up lucky, like with K. Williams last year who signed for $100k or less (but Keron was recently re-signed to an extension after one season)...or hopefully with Taylor this year...who fit into the Lions pay structure better than some of the other higher profile linemen.

Just look at the money Edm, Ham and Mtl are slathering on free agent signings. The Lions should be way under the Cap and likely have room to make a decent offer to keep Jarious.

It is rumoured that S. Jyles is available (if the Bombers sign JJ) and one of Q. Porter/A. Trafalis in Ham...who all seem more promising prospects that S. LeFors.

But if you think about it, they don't plan to play JJ as a starter. The Lions made it clear that they were going with Lulay and I doubt anything Jackson would do would change it. Lulay would have to suck big time to lose his starting role - I don't see it happening. I don't think Wally can be faulted here with his offer, he would expect some counter offer and he'd be foolish to start at his last position when he knows or likely knew that JJ was going to test the market.

Winnipeg is a bit intriguing but if Buck were healthy and stayed healthy he might not be the no. 1 guy.

Toronto is the one team you'd think would say we're open to the starter role.

Buck is the clear cut #1 in Winnipeg as long as he's healthy. But JJ knows as well as any of us that his odds of inheriting the starters job in Winnipeg are pretty good given Buck's history of injuries. If I'm Winnipeg, I would definitely be interested in JJ, but I'd be inclined to keep Jyles around as well at least until I felt confident that Buck is going to be good to go and stay healthy for more than a couple of games.

As for Toronto, while they might make JJ a decent offer, I just can't see them signing JJ expecting him to be the starter. I don't see how that will sell tickets.

So unless JJ wants to take a chance on ascending to the #1 spot in Winnipeg, his best option might be to stay right here in BC. Now it's up to WB to make sure it's not a matter of a few dollars that sees JJ leave the den.

Jason Maas just cut by Edmonton. Thoughts as it relates to Jarious?

I hear what you say about JJ being able to step into a Winnipeg starting spot should Buck go down. Yes, everyone knows the history. However, do you really think that is something Jarious would want to do ? Go to Winnipeg and play behind Buck yet once again, waiting for an injury to happen? I just dont know if he would want to go through that all over again ..only in a different city. If it were me, I would rather go to another club than find myself in the same situation yet once again...just thoughts

mightybuck wrote:I hear what you say about JJ being able to step into a Winnipeg starting spot should Buck go down. Yes, everyone knows the history. However, do you really think that is something Jarious would want to do ? Go to Winnipeg and play behind Buck yet once again, waiting for an injury to happen? I just dont know if he would want to go through that all over again ..only in a different city. If it were me, I would rather go to another club than find myself in the same situation yet once again...just thoughts

That is how my sense about it would be but for one thing.

This last season it was very clear that Lulay didn't have to be brilliant to keep playing and that the Lions were committed to working with him even if he struggled and even if they could have possibly got ignited by JJ coming on. Does that affect his decision making with BC? Not sure as he is no doubt comfortable in BC both living there in the season and with the system, etc. Learning something new just for a few dollars more might not make sense. I guess he might not change teams just for the sake of a change but the longer he is out there as a free agent the longer you got to think his stock might be falling and the new "equation" from the Lions might be a bit of a pay issue for him.

I think Toronto fans might get a bit fired up with Jackson arriving to challenge Lemon for the starting role. Not sure if they have any other heir apparent.

From News 1130 twitter (Rick Dhaliwal):

Free agent qb Jarious Jackson has offers from the Lions, Blue Bombers and Argos. Most money on the table from the Lions by a LONGSHOT!!.

Sounds like only incentive based deals from both Argos and Bombers. No way he is going to Winnipeg then as Buck is their man going into training camp.

Jarious Jackson has been a pro quarterback for a very long period of time, mostly in the role as a backup. He has size, arm strength, mobility, has proven to be cool in high pressure situations at the end of games, has tons of character, and very strong leadership qualities. Who can blame him or not understand, with those talents, his desire to have a shot at a starting quarterback position.

Jarious Jackson's limitations are his lack of touch on underneath patterns and his penchant to throw deep too often. However, those are traits that can be corrected. Jarious has also played here in B.C., except for the 2007 season, without the experience of knowing that he could play through the mistakes necessary to develop into a starting quarterback. He has always been on a very short rope and that does not enable a quarterback to relax into the position. We allowed Travis Lulay to do that last year but Jarious has never been able to play quarterback within the same context.

I would love to see Jarious back here next season and with the quarterback injuries we have experienced for a long time, the odds of him getting to start here in B.C. next year, at some point, based upon that past, would he high. However, Jarious wants the opportunity to compete for a starters job right from training camp and that won't happen here in B.C.

Its hard to know what Toronto or Winnipeg are thinking. I think Toronto would be wise to give Jarious a shot at the starters position. Lemon did not impress last season. In Winnipeg, they have a situation in which they are presently banking on a a talented but often injured Buck Pierce and that is not a confident situation for a coaching staff. Buck has worked out very hard this off-season in Winnipeg with that realization. Jarious may believe that is a good opportunity as well, as much as Buck and Jarious have a lot of respect for each other from all accounts.

Right now, there are no experienced backup quarterbacks in the league that compare well to Jarious Jackson. The Stefan Lafors and Kerry Joseph's are like grasping for a straw. Wally would be wise to anti-up more money, we can afford to, but I really don't believe that money is the key issue for Jarious. He'll sign back here if he does not believe another team will give him a legitimate shot to compete for a starters position. If one does, I doubt money will be the most significant issue, even though likely important for Jarious and his family.

Either way, I wish good things for Jarious. I would love to see him have an opportunity to compete for a starting quarterback position in training camp. I would love to see him back here for sure. What I would not want to see is Jarious being a backup for another team, at least not for him. If he is going to be a backup, B.C. is his best option.

Guess we'll soon be finding out.

First reported by CKWX and confirmed by The Province's Lowell Ullrich, the Jarious Jackson deal with the Lions is done (details just need to be ironed out). The deal will keep him here for at least one more year.

link HERE

DH

Yes! Thank you, David.