Update: Michael Reilly retires

[Spud387]

According to Global, Reilly will earn $750,000 next season.

"will" in air quotes

I would say he is "currently under contract to earn $750k next season." I give it 5% chance that sticks as the Lions probably walk instead with the amount of issues with the team. Reilly is not putting any buts in the seats so priority needs to be to win to get buts in the seats and that money needs to improve the team elsewhere.

[B.C.FAN]

According to Global, Reilly will earn $750,000 next season.

"will" in air quotes

I would say he is "currently under contract to earn $750k next season." I give it 5% chance that sticks as the Lions probably walk instead with the amount of issues with the team. Reilly is not putting any buts in the seats so priority needs to be to win to get buts in the seats and that money needs to improve the team elsewhere.

Reilly’s contact calls for him to receive $575,000 next year. It was renegotiated at the start of the year.

[Luck1sOnOurSid3]

According to Global, Reilly will earn $750,000 next season.

"will" in air quotes

I would say he is "currently under contract to earn $750k next season." I give it 5% chance that sticks as the Lions probably walk instead with the amount of issues with the team. Reilly is not putting any buts in the seats so priority needs to be to win to get buts in the seats and that money needs to improve the team elsewhere.

Reilly’s contact calls for him to receive $575,000 next year. It was renegotiated at the start of the year.

It seems weird the amount of flack Reilly has gotten this year. It’s like people forget his contract was renegotiated. For leading the league in passing, that contract is pretty reasonable. The money we save between Reilly’s contract and Rourke is not going to rebuild the defensive line which was probably the weakest point of this team followed by the offensive line opening running lanes.

If Reilly retires or the lions move on, Rourke is going to renegotiate for atleast low level starter money and you need to bring in another QB. Let’s say Rourke gets $200k and you bring in another backup with experience, that probably another $100-$120k. I am not confident we can fix the defensive line with an extra 200-300k available in cap space. What are we paying Ryker? How much is Lucky going to eat into that with his renegotiated contract? What is it going to cost to keep Burnham in BC?

[Hambone]

It seems weird the amount of flack Reilly has gotten this year. It’s like people forget his contract was renegotiated. For leading the league in passing, that contract is pretty reasonable. The money we save between Reilly’s contract and Rourke is not going to rebuild the defensive line which was probably the weakest point of this team followed by the offensive line opening running lanes.

If Reilly retires or the lions move on, Rourke is going to renegotiate for atleast low level starter money and you need to bring in another QB. Let’s say Rourke gets $200k and you bring in another backup with experience, that probably another $100-$120k. I am not confident we can fix the defensive line with an extra 200-300k available in cap space. What are we paying Ryker? How much is Lucky going to eat into that with his renegotiated contract? What is it going to cost to keep Burnham in BC?

I tend to look less at what one individual is making and more at what the position group is making. For instance Hamilton with Masoli and Evans may be close to the money of Reilly and Rourke or Mitchell and Maier. In Toronto they started with Arbuckle and MBT. Now it's MBT and Pipkin who has enough experience that he'll be making more than the min salaries of Rourke and Maier. Ditto in Montreal where Shiltz, now in his 4th season, will be on a bigger deal than any rookies. Ottawa started with Nichols and Davis, a 6 year veteran.

As for Rourke I'm certainly not willing to see the Lions annoint him starter next year without seeing a lot more on his resume than 1 surprise start and a meaningless season finale game versus an awful and dog-tired Elks squad. That's a body of work of basically a game and a half. I'm jaded after seeing Jennings fall apart after looking great for 1-1/2 seasons. Then there was Casey "One Season Wonder" Printers. I want to see at least 2 full solid seasons out of Rourke before I feel comfortable with him being THE guy.

Personally I'd rather see Reilly come back next year to buy Rourke more grooming time. I think it's easier to walk away from Reilly after his contract expires and Rourke has 2 seasons of development under his belt than to simply toss the keys to the Lions fortunes into Rourke's hands. I'm not liking any of the veteran alternatives they might be able to get of the QB scrap heap to either be Rourke's backup or to start to buy him the same year of development he might get under Reilly.

[johnchow604]

Riley's Twitter account and instagram are both deleted. He was fairly active in the past promoting the CFL on those accounts. I wonder if their deletion is an indication of pending retirement.

https://twitter.com/rikester13
https://www.instagram.com/rikester13/?hl=en

[Hambone]

Riley's Twitter account and instagram are both deleted. He was fairly active in the past promoting the CFL on those accounts. I wonder if their deletion is an indication of pending retirement.

https://twitter.com/rikester13
https://www.instagram.com/rikester13/?hl=en

I don't use either format (and have no intention of doing so anytime soon) so am unfamiliar with how they function. Are they a one way street? Or could he be receiving a bunch of less than complimentary messages through those accounts, enough to make him want to delete them for now?

[SammyGreene]

Farhan tonight: “Strong possibility Michael Reilly will retire. Will make final decision by the end of this month or early in the new year”

Lions could be looking at a ton of salary cap to play with.

Doesn’t mean everything but let’s see how much the club uses him or his image in season ticket promotions and other holiday related things on social media in the next few weeks.

[David]

Did anyone else notice that Reilly was a little "different" this year? Can't put my finger on it, but he appeared to be a little more distant (less visible?), a little more serious, and a little less fun-loving (remember when he used to bust Matt Baker's chops?)? This is all my perception of course. There could be no merit to it whatsoever, but another losing season can do that to a proud veteran. Or maybe it was before that? At Kamloops?

BTW, I would really love it if we could bring him back at a reduced salary. I think Nate could benefit from another year of seasoning but definitely see more reps.


DH

[Sir Purrcival]

It's hard to be upbeat when you are losing the way the Lions were this season. Had he been too cheery, then people would be on him for not taking the problems seriously enough. Hard to win either way I'm afraid. I also have no doubt that he was hurting, getting tossed around like a rag doll much of the time and not getting any traction as a result. Hard to be a happy guy when you try and try and still get nothing to show for it.

[SammyGreene]

He also lost his mom earlier this year to the same form of leukaemia I lost my dad to 8 years ago. It’s harsh and rather sudden. I was at least in my late 40s and my dad was 73.

Reilly went through that at 36 with a young family and his mom was just 59.

https://www.bclions.com/2021/07/23/reil ... mp-rhonda/

[David]

He also lost his mom earlier this year to the same form of leukaemia I lost my dad to 8 years ago. It’s harsh and rather sudden. I was at least in my late 40s and my dad was 73.

Reilly went through that at 36 with a young family and his mom was just 59.

That is a good point SammyGreene; one that I had forgotten about. Losing one's mother at a fairly young age must have been devastating, especially being from such a close, supportive family. He likely dedicated the season to her, only to see it all go sideways - from the elbow injury that hampered his throwing, to the losses that piled up for the second season in a row after a promising 4-2 start.

He was present and accountable after games (the same insightful guy) but didn't seem to be the familiar "face-of-the-franchise" of years past. This was evident on "green garbage bag day" when (I believe) he was already down in Seattle.

I do hope he comes back.


DH

[Qman]

Farhan tonight: “Strong possibility Michael Reilly will retire. Will make final decision by the end of this month or early in the new year”

Lions could be looking at a ton of salary cap to play with.

Doesn’t mean everything but let’s see how much the club uses him or his image in season ticket promotions and other holiday related things on social media in the next few weeks.

That salary cap room would be reused to sign a creditable starter in February, doesn’t change the cap situation. We have too much money dedicated to non-producing oline.

[Hambone]

Just to put the QB salary thing into perspective Vernon Adams just extended with Montreal thru the 2023 season. Adams is not yet as proven as Reilly but nonetheless will earn $445K in 2022 with $190K coming up front in form of a signing bonus. Whether the Lions renegotiate Reilly downwards or not for the final year of his deal remains to be seen. Suffice it to say for those thinking BC can get him down into the low $300K range that just ain't gonna happen. High $400K range? Maybe. Below Adams money? Nope.

https://3downnation.com/2021/12/16/mont ... 23-season/

[Luck1sOnOurSid3]

Just to put the QB salary thing into perspective Vernon Adams just extended with Montreal thru the 2023 season. Adams is not yet as proven as Reilly but nonetheless will earn $445K in 2022 with $190K coming up front in form of a signing bonus. Whether the Lions renegotiate Reilly downwards or not for the final year of his deal remains to be seen. Suffice it to say for those thinking BC can get him down into the low $300K range that just ain't gonna happen. High $400K range? Maybe. Below Adams money? Nope.

https://3downnation.com/2021/12/16/mont ... 23-season/

Especially considering he just lead the league in passing again, it is going to be pretty tough to move him down even further. Win columns is a team stat and you can't really blame him for this teams woes when he is leading the league in passing. That is like blaming Lucky for our problems when he was leading the league in receiving. Put another way, if you swapped Collaros for Reilly, do you think Winnipeg would have still won the Grey Cup and BC would have still missed the playoffs? Or do you think BC would have been in Grey Cup contention and Winnipeg would have missed the playoffs?

This team needs to rapidly rebuild itself in the trenches. Until we a good offensive and defensive line, we aren't moving any where.

[maxlion]

Not much incentive for Reilly to re-negotiate.

Mitchell in Calgary isn't comparable. Mitchell went down $40k in exchange for a$100k in upfront money. Reilly already has a ton of upfront $ coming to him. Mitchell nearly lost his job to his backup who just signed a bonus-based deal. Lions don't have many options.

Personally, I think Reilly is still an elite QB. A younger guy may offer more long term potential, but in a one game takes all scenario, I'd probably still take Reilly over anyone in the league today. I think he deserves to be paid as much or more than other QBs around the league. I'm guessing that Collaros is going to get a good payday as well.

Looking around at the free agent options, I don't see much there. Dane Evans may the top possibility, but i suspect he gets signed by Hamilton. Harris is a good passer, but lacks Reilly's competitiveness. Nichols seems to be done. Masoli has never been able to solidify a starting job and may be out of the league due to vaccination policy. Bethel-Thompson looks like an all star one game and an amateur the next. Rumours are that Streveler could return to he CFL, I'm not convinced he can pass well enough to be a successful starter.

If Rourke is the real deal, I think there is no one better than Reilly to bring him along over the next season. I'm definitely in the camp that hopes Reilly is back next year.