By Greg Urbanoski

Riderville

Riders doing what they have to be competitive in free agency

Feb 2, 2022 | 12:45 PM

In the space of a week, a major curveball was thrown into the CFL 2022 season.

The retirement of QB Mike Reilly from the BC Lions to pursue a firefighting career has resulted in the Lions having a substantial amount of salary cap room saved from his salary.

The Lions have started with paying, perhaps over-paying for receiver-returned Lucky Whitehead, now the Lions have put out offers for Winnipeg receiver Ken Lawler that would put him in the $250,000 range for receivers.

The Lions just re-signed Bryan Burnham and the addition of Lawler would give them probably the best trio of receivers in the league. The Lions are also interested in Saskatchewan defensive back Loucheiz Purifoy which would put a hole in the Rider secondary but also sends out the message that BC is looking to get back into the Western Division race.

The news Tuesday that Rider QB Cody Fajardo has re-negotiated his contract to take a cut in his 2022 contract but get upfront money to lower his salary cap number. That may come in handy when Feb. 8, Free Agency Day, rolls around the Riders put in their bids for say, Duke Williams.

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Fajardo has had a tough year in social media in Saskatchewan. Last year his plea for a receiver who can get 50.50 balls was seen as throwing his injury depleted receiving corps under the proverbial bus. Then when he said he was going to ignore the barbs from the social media crowd, it had all the markings of a sophomore slump where a quarterback has a great debut season, but as teams get film on him and figure out his tricks, he either has to grow and learn some new tricks or burn out like Jon Jennings or Casey Printers.

The decision to re-do his contract to free up cap space is a move that former Patriot quarterback Tom Brady would have done to make his team more competitive. Brady took less money than what he would have made on the open market in order to pay for good receivers and linemen to come to New England.

So Fajardo willing to take less to sweeten the offer for say, Williams, shows that Fajardo is willing to take the next step to demonstrate his commitment to his teammates. It is probably a necessary step after the receiver comments of last year, but if it works out, then Fajardo is positioning himself to lead this team to a championship.

Speaking of championships, I was lucky enough to meet Michael Reilly at the initial CFL Week in Saskatchewan maybe five years ago. Reilly was on a panel with quarterbacks Anthony Calvillo and Warren Moon and afterwards Reilly was a bit nervous being approached by Rider fans, including those with Rider Grey Cup rings.

Reilly and I shook hands as I told him I respected his leadership and his style of play. He then signed a blank football that I was carrying around for autographs and I got a picture of us together.

That encounter convinced me the CFL Week was a good idea to move around from CFL market to market, incorporating both the CFL Combine and opportunities for fans to meet current and former players from all teams.

Reilly was noted for his leadership, but it could be argued his decision to move on from Edmonton to BC for more money was the beginning of the end of his effective CFL routine. The Lions were left with a shell of an offensive line and Reilly was sacked more often than Rome by the Visigoths in the fall of the Roman Empire.

The Lions changed management and coaches but the result was basically the same and while Reilly displayed a never say die approach, his inability to sustain offensive drives condemned the BC Lions and his retirement is ironically the thing that may set the Lions free.

The Lions will also likely put in a bid for QB Trevor Harris to perhaps mentor Nathan Rourke or perhaps even take over from the Canadian QB if necessary. It’s an interesting situation but with the receiving corps, the Lions hope to be more explosive to bring in fans.

The Riders for their part have been clearing mostly their decks prior to free agency. They finished their coaching staff by extending offensive coordinator Jason Maas, Defensive coordinator Jason Shivers, and Assistant general manager Paul Jones through the 2023 season.

The Riders promoted Kent Maugeri to special teams’ coordinator after his work coaching the running backs. Kelly Jeffrey joins the staff as running backs coach after being with the Edmonton Elk staff and the special teams’ coordinator with the Argos in 2016. Jeffrey was the former head coach at Mount Allison University for eight years.

The Riders brought back Offensive Line Coach and Run Game coordinator Stephen Sorrels, Wide Receiver Coach Travis Moore, Linebacker Coach Deion Melvin and Defensive Line Coach Ben Olson will continue with their roles with a defensive back coach to be hired at a future date.

The Riders signed Mike Edem to a contract extension along with Nick Marshall. They also signed WR Darvin Kidsy, who played with the Seahawks and Washington Football Team. Kidsy is 6’ 180 pounds while DB Will Sutherland who had time with the Green Bay Packers, Indianapolis Colts and Seattle Seahawks is 6’4 196 pounds.

The Riders brought in American offensive lineman Na’Ty Rodgers who is 6’5”, 305 pounds and has time with the Montreal Alouettes, Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Ottawa Redblacks.

The Riders also extended kicker Brent Lauther to a two-year contract, something some players and CFL teams want to avoid the spectacle of teams changing players each year and fans not investing in merchandise with players’ names on it because they would be gone next year.

So now the Riders will be looking to see whether their efforts to restructure contracts will free up room to bring players who would be attracted by the prospect of playing for a Grey Cup in Riderville.

Williams has indicated he is waiting for free agency to drop, and Edmonton has made a splash by raiding senior homes’ and finding Adarius Bowman and Manny Arceneaux. Bowman did well under Chris Jones and as Jones attempts to put in a new culture in the Chronic Wasters camp, players who know what he wants are a good idea to set the bar for the newer players.

I think Arceneaux is probably the better pick up because as he demonstrated two years ago in Saskatchewan, Arceneaux has the professionalism and work ethic that sets the example for younger receivers.

Edmonton is also apparently looking into the availability of Duron Carter, who was another of Jones’ science projects in Riderville. While Carter made one of the all time catches in Rider jersey, he was also high maintenance enough that he caused problems on and off the field for the Riders.

If Jones can get Carter to buy in and with more distractions in Edmonton than in Regina, maybe Carter will find true happiness back with the Chronic Wasters.

The Riders might want to look at Greg Ellingson from the Chronic Wasters who may hit the free agency market and may have the ability to bring down 50/50 balls that seems to be the vogue thing in the Rider offense. Then again, Jake Weineke of the Alouettes would also be a pretty good addition for the Riders.

With the legal tampering starting, the teams will put their bids in for prospective free agents and wait to see on February 8 for what comes next. For the Riders, facing pressure to field a competitive team for a home Grey Cup, it’s not just about making moves, it is about making the right moves.

This is about to get very interesting….