It has been a BUSY week in the CFL. Many signings by every team in the league, while some lost more than they gained. Free agency is one of the most exciting times of the offseason, and it was one of the best showings in a while so far. Let's take a look at every CFL team's free agency signings.
BC LIONS
The Lions definitely made their presence known in free agency. It may be because they want to get to the Grey Cup being hosted in Vancouver this year. They stole two players from Saskatchewan (Pete Robertson and Jake Dolegala), who may become helpful additions. By taking those two, they also hurt a west rival. Another huge addition for the Lions was picking up William Stanback, who they expect to be their number one RB in front of Taquan Mizzell. They also picked up another quarterback, who will probably be the 3rd string player in Dakota Prukop from the Bombers. This will not be a huge deal for the Bombers. however, as they just recently brought back Chris Streveler after his NFL stint. The Riders weren't the only ones who lost two players to the Lions. The Alouettes lost Jake Harty and Ciante Evans to the Lions, which may help fill some holes in their roster. Jake Harty and Justin McInnis, two Lions receivers, were both on the same team 2 years ago. Also, Pete Robertson, who broke Nathan Rourke's foot and twisted Vernon Adams Jr's knee is now playing for the Lions. Maybe there will be some apologies at training camp? The Lions have also lost Mathieu Betts to the American Lions, from Detroit. They also lost Jalon Edwards-Cooper to the Riders, as well as Philip Norman to Ottawa.
CALGARY STAMPEDERS
The Stamps lost more than they gained this free agency. They added interception king Demario Houston, OL Trevon Tate, LB Micah Tietz and QB Matthew Shiltz. While these are good additions in the areas they needed help in, I was surprised to see them not go after a receiver this offseason. We saw that core struggle last year, and to not see them try and get some decent backups and help from a guy like Tevin Jones, who just signed with Montreal, was surprising. They took a bunch of losses, however. They lost LBs Jordan Herdman-Reed and Silas Stewart, RB Kadeem Carey (which may be a big problem on account of the Jamal Morrow signing falling through), OL Ryan Sceviour, WR Luthar Hakunavanhu, DL Derek Wiggan and DE Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund. This is a 7:4 ratio of losses to gains, which may not pan out so well this coming season. Maybe Peyton Logan can become the number one RB in Calgary?
EDMONTON ELKS
The Elks did admittedly less than I thought they might in free agency. They signed dynamic KR Javon Leake from the Argos (who were LEAKE-ing players, badum tss), K Boris Bede, and a new QB1 in McLeod Bethel-Thompson. The move to sign McLeod confused many, with young, electric Tre Ford staying in Edmonton. Maybe they want to have McLeod mentor Tre? It just seems that the money they spent on McLeod could have been spent better somewhere else. They released Ed Gainey and Aaron Grymes, and no other team have really shown any interest in the Elks free agents. I believe the Elks will be improved in 2024, but not by a whole lot. Maybe they'll get more then 4 wins this year? Who knows.
SASKATCHEWAN ROUGHRIDERS
The consensus free agency winners. The Riders were absolutely all over free agency this year, spending to the cap and trying to make the best team possible under new head coach Corey Mace. They added star RB AJ Ouellette, DB Jalon Edwards-Cooper, OL Jermarcus Hardrick, DE Malik Carney, LB Jordan Herdman-Reed, LB Jameer Thurman and OL Ryan Sceviour. They certainly filled the holes they needed to, and they added a whole bunch of talent to make them better for 2024. They did take a few losses, however. They lost LB Micah Tietz, WR Tevin Jones, FB Albert Awachie, DL Pete Robertson, QB Jake Dolegala and OLs Eric Lofton and Evan Johnson. Everyone agrees that the Riders won free agency, and they will 100% be improved in 2024. The only question is, by how much?
WINNIPEG BLUE BOMBERS
The Bombers were not very active in free agency, which is a good thing for them. They managed to keep Dalton Schoen and Brady Olivera. They did lose more than they gained, losing QB Dakota Prukop, OL Jermarcus Hardrick, DBs Demario Houston and Kerfalla Exume and LB Malik Clements. They did bring in Eric Lofton from the Riders, but considering the Rider's sack total last year, it doesn't seem like much of an upgrade over Jermarcus Hardrick. Jackson Jeffcoat retired, and Ricky Walker was supposed to sign with the Stamps, but backed off after considering if he wants to play football anymore. I believe we'll see a downwards trend in the amount of wins they get in 2024, but they may still top the west division.
HAMILTON TIGER-CATS
All-Star Cariel Brooks recently retired from the CFL, which will definitely hurt their secondary. They also lost RB Sean Thomas-Erlington, QB Matthew Shiltz, DE Malik Carney, DB Tunde Adeleke, LBs Fraser Sopik, Jameer Thurman and Simoni Lawrence (who retired) and DL Dylan Wynn. They brought in a bunch of players from their QEW rivals, the Toronto Argonauts, They brought in DB Jamal Peters, DLs Dewayne Hendrix and Brandon Barlow, which should all be huge additions for their defense. They also brought in OL Evan Johnson, WR Luthar Hakunavanhu, RB Ante Molanovic-Litre and FB James Tuck to beef up the offense. We'll see how well these additions pan out for them in 2024, but it seems that Ti-Cat fans are very happy with their adds.
TORONTO ARGONAUTS
The Argos started free agency by losing so many players. They lost RB AJ Ouellette, KR Javon Leake, OL Trevon Tate, LB Adarius Pickett, DB Jamal Peters and DLs Dewayne Hendrix and Brandon Barlow. Everyone thought it was over for the Argos. But then the signings came. They added DBs Tunde Adeleke and Kerfalla Exume, LBs Fraser Sopik and Malik Clements, RB Kadeem Carey, FB Albert Awachie and DL Thiadric Hansen. There may be less experience with the new group of guys, but under the correct coaching, they can all become starters. Kadeem Carey is already a starter, and hopefully the guys in Toronto like him as much as they liked AJ Ouellette.
OTTAWA REDBLACKS
The Redblacks didn't have a busy free agency. They signed Adarius Pickett upon his release from Toronto and picked up LB Silas Stewart and OL Phillip Norman. They also released, then re-signed OL Jacob Ruby. The only real loss they had was releasing Ante Molanovic-Litre, who went to the Ti-Cats upon his release. Overall, pretty uneventful apart from signing Adarius Pickett, who should be HUGE for their defense.
MONTREAL ALOUETTES
The Als made more moves than I anticipated this offseason. They added RB Sean Thomas-Erlington, DLs Derek Wiggan and Dylan Wynn (both have the initials DW, which stands for don't worry. The Als shouldn't have to worry with those guys locking down the line), WR Tevin Jones and DE Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund. Tevin Jones seem to be a replacement for Austin Mack, who left for the Atlanta Falcons in January. They did lose WR Jake Harty, FB James Tuck and DB Ciante Evans, as well as RB William Stanback. I don't believe they'll have the same Cinderella story as last year, but they still might top the east division.
By Bruce Chimirri-Olson
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