It was a busy week in TigerTown as General Manager Bob O’Billovich was hard at work making the first major moves of the offseason in his efforts to improve on the Black and Gold’s 9-9 finish last year.
The Tiger-Cats first move of the week came on Tuesday, when they landed receiver Maurice Mann from the Edmonton Eskimos. Mann, 27, hauled in 73 passes for 917 yards and six touchdowns in his first full season in the Canadian Football League in 2009. He was among the league leaders in receiving yards for the first half of the season (he racked up 756 yards in the Esks’ first 10 games) before he was hindered by an ankle injury, which eventually caused him to miss the final two games of the season. In his 25 games with the Esks, Mann demonstrated the speed to stretch the field vertically as well as an ability to make difficult catches in tight coverage over the middle.
Heading to Edmonton was defensive back Chris Thompson, a former CFL All-Star who made 49 tackles and one interception with the Cats last season.
The void left by Thompson’s departure was quickly filled on Wednesday, as O’Billovich secured the services of a pair of free agent defensive backs, Will Poole and Jason Shivers. Both spent the last two seasons in Toronto, where they combined for 164 tackles and five interceptions with the Boatmen. O’Billovich indicated that he expects Shivers to compete for a spot at halfback while the versatile Poole, who played cornerback, halfback and safety with the Argos last season, will receive looks at a couple different locations in the secondary.
You can bet that there will continue to be more transactions coming soon. O’Billovich told Ticats TV last week that he is still looking at a couple of free agents that remain available and the team will soon begin a series of invite-only free agent camps in the U.S. featuring players that have caught the eyes of Ticats scouts.
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