We’re about to hit the juicy part of the Canadian Football League offseason, a time of year when gossip and rumour – then followed by fantastical financial offers – makes free agency a riveting wintery soap opera. And as observers and fans, most of us are here for every nanosecond of it.
CFL free agency officially opens at 11:01 a.m. on February 14th, but it’s the days preceding it – including the legal tampering period – that really sets the frenzy into full motion.
With the free agent negotiating window set to officially begin this Sunday, here’s a look at some key questions as to where the Blue Bombers stand heading into the zany-ness…
WHAT IS THE ‘LEGAL TAMPERING PERIOD’?
The CFL is a small league. Players talk. Coaches talk. GMs talk and agents talk. All that leads to interesting conversations all year, not just around free agency. And for years it was laughable to see teams announcing deals with big-name players just a few minutes into the opening of free agency.
The CFL, in an attempt to avoid some of those awkward optics, established a negotiating window in 2020 that allows teams to speak openly with pending free agent players and their agents. That window opens this Sunday at 11 a.m. and runs through to February 12 at 11 a.m.
During that time teams can make formal offers to players, with those potential deals – to which a team is locked into – then registered with CFL headquarters. After that window closes, teams then have two days – before free agency opens on the 14th – to exclusively negotiate with their players after seeing the offers from other clubs. The players then have two hours in the morning of the market opening to accept any offer from any club. If they choose to pass, they become free agents.
The key point here: just because a player has not yet signed with his current club doesn’t mean he is automatically headed to free agency. Nor, for that matter, does it mean his current club wants to re-sign him. But the window does allow players and their representatives to get a feel for what offers are there for them from around the league.
HOW DOES THE BLUE BOMBERS’ CURRENT FREE AGENT SITUATION LOOK?
Dating back to last fall the Blue Bombers have re-signed some critical components, all of whom would have been pending free agents.
That list includes QB Zach Collaros, offensive linemen Pat Neufeld, Stanley Bryant, Jermarcus Hardrick and Tui Eli, defensive linemen Willie Jefferson, Jackson Jeffcoat and Jake Thomas, linebackers Adam Bighill, Kyrie Wilson, Shayne Gauthier, defensive backs Desmond Lawrence and Winston Rose, fullback Mike Miller and long-snapper Mike Benson.
That leaves the following players still inching towards free agency (*indicates Canadian):
- Receivers Nic Demski*, Rasheed Bailey, Greg Ellingson and Janarion Grant
- Centre Michael Couture*
- Defensive linemen Casey Sayles and Keion Adams
- Linebackers Jesse Briggs* and Les Maruo (Global)
- Defensive backs Alden Darby, Jr., Nick Taylor and Mercy Maston
- Quarterback Dakota Prukop
WHAT’S UP WITH DEMSKI?
There’s an obvious attachment to the hometown guy from fans, what with the University of Manitoba product being the club’s Most Outstanding Canadian the last two seasons and coming off a career year (64 receptions for 772 yards and 10 TDs in just 13 games).
The club has been in contract talks with him but, to date, no deal is done. Where this falls over the next 10 days – whether he stays or goes – will dramatically shape how the Blue Bombers approach free agency.
As we suggested in last week’s 1st & 10 column, the uncertainty regarding the status of Demski, Bailey and Ellingson – plus what Grant provides in-depth at the position while serving as the most dangerous return man in the CFL – makes the uncertainty around the receiver position THE Blue Bombers story heading into free agency.
Coming off a career year like Demski, Bailey also does a lot of dirty work and is an exceptional blocker. Just like last year before he re-signed, he could draw interest in the open market.
The Blue Bombers are hopeful they can still lock up Grant and while the club got huge production from Ellingson early last summer, he was twice injured, turned 34 in December and seems likely to go to market.
IS THERE A PLAN B AT RECEIVER, THEN?
Yes, and likely a Plan C and D, too.
Right now, the club has Canadians Drew Wolitarsky and Brendan O’Leary-Orange returning, along with Carlton Agudosi and Dalton Schoen – who has until February 14th to sign in the NFL return – as well as Tavaris Harrison, Jaivon Heiligh and Global prospect Timothy Knuettel. And that’s it.
This is where things get potentially interesting. The two biggest names on the CFL’s pending free agent list are stud receivers Kenny Lawler – the former Blue Bomber who signed in Edmonton a year ago – and Montreal’s Eugene Lewis, who is coming off a season in which he had 91 receptions for 1,303 yards and 10 TDs.
Those two would be swing-for-the-fences expensive options for the Blue Bombers, but there are also some intriguing ‘secondary’ targets that won’t carry as hefty a price tags.
Included in that bunch are Steven Dunbar and Tim White (Hamilton), Canadian Kurleigh Gittens, Jr. (Toronto), Reggie White, Jr., Jake Weineke (Montreal) and Shawn Bane, Jr. (Calgary) along with vets like Markeith Ambles and DaVaris Daniels (Toronto), Derel Walker (Edmonton), Kamar Jorden (Calgary) and Shaq Evans and Duke Williams (Saskatchewan).
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH COUTURE? AND WHY DID DESJARLAIS SIGN WITH OTTAWA?
Couture and Desjarlais were high Blue Bombers draft picks – Couture 10th overall in 2016, while Desjarlais was selected fourth overall in 2019 – and teams loathe to see Canadian linemen they have invested in left.
The Blue Bombers did have contact with Desjarlais, who spent last year on the practice rosters in New England and New Orleans before he became the CFL’s highest-paid O-linemen earlier this week when he signed in Ottawa.
The situation with Couture relates simply to the depth the club already built up along the interior of the line in Pat Neufeld, Geoff Gray, Chris Kolankowski, Liam Dobson and Tui Eli, and what he is likely to command in the open market.
ANY UPDATES ON THE OTHER GUYS?
The Blue Bombers continue to negotiate with Darby, Jr. for a return, but it’s uncertain what might unfold for veteran Nick Taylor, who suffered an Achilles injury last year while Mercy Maston suffered a similar injury in two straight training camps.
The team is still hopeful to re-sign Prukop, the veteran pivot, while it’s been quiet on Briggs. The closer we get to the market opening, the more likely it is that Sayles, Maruo and Adams will be available to other teams.
