Johany Jutras/CFL.ca
Whenever free agency is about to get underway, I always think of The Hunger Games.
I picture the nine GMs across the CFL standing on pods in a circle, facing one another as the clock ticks down to zero.
When the moment hits, I hope for the same frenzied chaos that the movie delivers. Combatants sprinting to load up on the appropriate weapons, some going toe-to-toe along the way. The smart ones lay back near the woods, surveying who’s getting what and where they’re going.
The countdown isn’t as life-or-death as the movie’s situation, but I feel like GMs around the league are just as shifty eyed while they wait for the first major move of the day to be made.
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It took the Ottawa REDBLACKS and Winnipeg Blue Bombers just under an hour to strike in free agency last year, inking Khalil Bass and Drake Nevis, respectfully, within minutes of one another. In 2016, then-Alouettes GM Jim Popp put pen to paper with defensive back Mitchell White to get the free agency ball rolling. Ironically, Popp is in the same spot this year, looking to re-sign White to the Argos team that won the Grey Cup in 2017.
In 2015, it was a bit more quiet off the hop. The Bombers signed then-Toronto Argonauts receiver Darvin Adams but it was silence for another hour after that.
White and Popp sparked a day of monumental signings two years ago, with Chris Rainey re-signing with the BC Lions, Trevor Harris leaving Toronto for Ottawa and Andrew Harris bolting from the Lions to go home and play for the Bombers.
Just like in the movie, there’s that short pause when the clock strikes zeros (or noon). Once the first chip falls, it seems to set everything else in motion. After Bass and Nevis found homes last year, things got busy. Kenny Shaw went from Toronto to Ottawa, Derek Dennis left the Stamps for the Riders and Jacory Harris’ signing in Montreal set a trade in motion for Vernon Adams Jr. (he eventually went to Saskatchewan).
Most teams approach free agency based on their overall structure. Teams that fell to the bottom of the standings, like Montreal, are expected to be busy on Tuesday afternoon. Teams like Calgary, that have had prolonged success and scouted well, tend to lay low on the opening day free agency, making moves on the second or third day, when the initial buyer frenzy dies down. Winnipeg is a good example of a club that’s gone into the market looking for pieces in the past, found success with what they got and are taking a more cautious approach this year.
It might take some time to get going, but eventually the GMs around the league stop side-eyeing each other and get down to business. Whatever your team needs, whether it’s in the thick of the battle or surveying the chaos from a distance, waiting to strike, it’s always fun to watch how free agency unfolds.
