The Canadian Press
Hello, dear readers. Remember that scene at the end of the movie The Social Network where Jesse Eisenberg, portraying Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, sits alone at a table, continually hitting the “refresh” button on his laptop?
That was me on Tuesday. That was all of us, really, wasn’t it? Then I stepped out for about a half hour to buy some groceries and when I got back, I found that Brock Sunderland had purchased even more items than I had, only his “items” were primo football players.
More on that coming up, in free agency takeaways.
FA19 QUICK CLICKS
» The Waggle, Ep. 145: Free agent frenzy
» A team-by-team look at free agency
» Free Agent Tracker: Who’s still available?
Another big name went off the board on Thursday when Derel Walker signed with Toronto (Johany Jutras/CFL.ca)
BO READS FREE AGENCY LIKE HE READS OPPOSING DEFENCES
Not sure if he’d planned it out like this all the way along, but Bo Levi Mitchell played free agency like a virtuoso cellist bringing you to tears with a heart-wrenching solo.
Maybe I’ll opt for a look south. Nah, maybe I’ll stay in Calgary. Nah, maybe I’ll test free agency and see what Mike Reilly‘s big contract in BC can bring to me if I stay in the CFL, sorry Stamps. Big deals in Toronto and Saskatchewan? Looks like I gotta go….
Well, what do you think, John Hufnagel? Care to dance?
Mitchell had Calgary as his primary receiver all along, really. A place that he loves, playing for and with people he really digs. To get a deal that made him truly, truly happy, he looked off that primary receiver (who was open all along, by the way) and checked down to another and another and another… until the Stampeders, waving their arms frantically at this point, really got his attention with a deal fit for a quarterback king.
Bravo, maestro. Bravo.
BROCK SUNDERLAND WAS READY
Boy, howdy, was he ever ready. The loss of Mike Reilly could have been the signature moment of Edmonton’s free agency activity and had it been, that would’ve been bad. Very, very bad.
Instead, there is as much talk – if not more – about the giant load of front-line talent airlifted into the Alberta capital in the first few hours of free agency. Sunderland wasn’t kidding himself that he could keep Reilly and he went about with Plan B, a dossier thick as a phone book, and one that was obviously prepared in the weeks leading up to the opening bell.
Reilly was out, sure. But soon after, Trevor Harris was in and it can safely be said that the Eskimos got the next best quarterback available (we don’t for a second think BLM would’ve been a possibility there, do we?) to fill the void, and then quickly added that quarterback’s favourite target, in Greg Ellingson. Nabbed receiver DaVaris Daniels, too. And then a bunch of beefy linemen to protect Harris.
As well, the Edmonton GM quickly inked a brand new starting linebacker troika in Larry Dean, Don Unamba and Jovan Santos-Knox. And on and on it went as the afternoon wore on, Eskimo signings dropping like Drake singles.
Brock Sunderland is football’s Ron Swanson. He meant it when he said “bring me ALL the bacon and eggs you have.”
Sleep now, Brock. Sleeeeep.
IT’S NOT YOU IT’S ME
So many exits by so many top-flight, talented players. So many “this hurts me more than you” messages.
Mike Reilly let everyone in Edmonton know it wasn’t about them, but about how his new sweetheart – Vancouver – would give him what he needs while allowing his Ex (or should I say his Ex-kimoes) to also flourish with someone new, dripping a little honey on the Eskimos’ front office as he headed west.
Lots of players left for new homes, with great things to say about their former teams. Check social media and you’ll see free agents who left for another city while trying to let their old teams and fans down easy, with the football free agent’s equivalent of “you’re great, you really are. You’ll find someone.”
Lines like “always have a special place in my heart,” and “I wish you nothing but the best moving forward” were seen drifting serenely down the Twitter stream.
Really. They’re doing this as much for you as for them. You’ll see.
The good news? You’ll get over it. You always have before….
JONATHON JENNINGS: ANTHONY CALVILLO AND TRACY HAM HAVE STORIES FOR YOU
One thing was made certain long before CFLFA began, and that was that Jonathon Jennings would be looking for a new home, outside of Vancouver.
Lions’ GM ED Hervey – one of the big winners on Day One of CFLFA – had made that abundantly clear.
When the music stopped, Jennings had inked a deal with the REDBLACKS, who’d already stated that they were fine going ahead with Dominique Davis as their starting quarterback after the departure of Trevor Harris.
Nevertheless, QB depth s a pretty decent thing to have and in Jennings, Ottawa gets a guy who has previously shown extended flashes of great brilliance, so they’ll bank on him reclaiming that form.
A number of talented quarterbacks have done just that, when a change of scenery was forced upon them.
Years ago, Tracy Ham spent a miserable year in Toronto, and it was thought he was washed up because of it. The Argos had no trouble letting him go. He emerged in Baltimore and, voila! Back to his old form, with lots of wins and a Grey Cup Championship to boot. After the Stallions moved to Montreal, Ham remained the starter until another wayward quarterback arrived on the scene, looking to jump-start his vanishing prospects of ever sticking as a starter. That was Anthony Calvillo, of course.
Now, for every Ham or Calvillo, there’s a handful of pivots for whom no change of scenery could save the day. We’ll see what Ottawa can do for Jonathon Jennings this season. And if he can be the answer to the REDBLACKS’ quarterback void.
LIGHTNING ROUND: BONUS TAKEAWAYS!
So much happened in free agency that this fifth takeaway will actually consist of a whole whack of quickie takes.
Toronto has an awful lot of running backs, don’t they? “The Argos are going with a five running back set here on first and 10…”
A lot of quarterbacks are going to be flattened while remaining upright, what with Willie Jefferson and Jackson Jeffcoat meeting in the pocket at exactly the same time…
Ottawa Sports and Entertainment CEO Mark Goudie seems like the kind of guy who could take a pie in the face from you, smile and then say “let’s talk about why you did that.” He spent day one of free agency answering tweets from ticked of Ottawa fans who were displeased with the losses of Trevor Harris, Greg Ellingson, SirVincent Rogers and William Powell…
My favourite “not-so-sexy-and-high-profile, not-so-headline-stealing” signing: Rico Murray, in Hamilton. Guy is super-glue. Defensive super-glue…
Do-overs in vogue: Zach Collaros in Saskatchewan, James Franklin in Toronto. Both quarterbacks get an opportunity to rise to the occasion – in Collaros’ case a sub-par 2018 had a lot to do with injuries – because both the Argos and Riders missed out on Bo…
Losing Willie Jefferson – to the Bombers, no less – has got to sting for Riders fans. However, landing the man who many think is the most consequentially disruptive defender for opposing offences to handle in Micah Johnson, is a pretty good consolation prize…
The Alouettes now have two sensational safeties, after signing ex-Bomber Taylor Loffler. Guess it’s back to the linebacking corps for you, Branden Dozier.
Duron Carter. Will he be the man to chase down Kevin Glenn‘s record of belonging to every single team?
Sure, the Stampeders re-signed BLM. But they lost sooo many stars. So, this is the year they finally come back to the pack, I guess. Yeah, right.
Quiet ain’t necessarily bad. The Ticats were relatively inactive when the frenzy dawned and then played out on Day 1. They’d already wrapped up a bunch of their core stars beforehand, so were in good shape. Oh, then they picked up Ja’Gared Davis on Day 2, so…
AND FINALLY….
Mike Reilly takes his hat game even more seriously than we thought.
“I had to wear a hat today. I couldn’t not,” he said at the media conference where he was introduced as the Lions’ new quarterback. “I think that would’ve been a massive disappointment for everybody.”
Indeed.
Reilly found one – and only one – orange hat (what is that, Mike? A Fedora? A Homburg? A Trilby?), with hints of black in it, at his favourite shop in Seattle, and nabbed it, thankful that “I didn’t get stuck with some big sombrero.”
Pity that. A big, orange sombrero would have been an outstanding addition to his introduction media conference. Photoshop help, anyone?
