2020 Potential free agents

In early December, the League will most probably publish/make available the 2020 Free Agents Trackers. As most Teams, the Als will have many players on that list. I include players that I do think will be on that list and what I expect could happen.

-Chris Ackie LB N Could be re-signed, although did not have a great season.-in games he played.
-Mario Alford KR/WR A Has to be re-signed and he should.
-Woody Barron DT A Could be re-signed. Not a great season.
-Boris Bede K A I expect that he will be re-signed, although I expect competitions during training camp.
-Jean-Samuel Blanc DE N Should be re-signed. Good special teams player.
-Quan Bray WR A I don’t know if he is a potential free agent, but if so he needs to be re-signed.
-Ryan Brown DT A I don’t expect him to be re-sighed. Disappointed season.
-Martin Bédard LS N I expect him to be re-signed.
-Ciante Evans DB A Top player that has to be re-signed.
-Fabien Foote DT N Improvements in 2019. Should be re-signed.
-Jeremiah Johnson RB A Yes, he will be 33 in February but he will most probably be re-signed. Good depth player.
-DJ Lalama LB N Top special teams player and good depth player. Should be re-signed.
-Patrick Levels LB A Could try the NFL. Was a top player in 2019.
Eugene Lewis WR A Could try the NFL, but will be 27 next April. I think that he will be re-signed for more than 1 season.
-Kristian Matte C N Will be re-signed.
-Chris Matthews WR A Will not be re-signed. Will easily be replaced.
-Antonio Pipkin QB A Will not be re-signed. Could end up with another CFL team.
-Greg Reid DB A A top player that I expect will be re-signed to more than 1 year. Could replace Patrick Levels at LB, if he goes to the NFL.
-William Stanback RB N Will most probably try the NFL. The Als will definitely do the outmost to re-sign him, but I expect that he will go to the NFL.

There are definitely other potential free agents, but I have listed the most notable.

Some players are already signed for next season, but some may be released or asked to take a pay cut or retire. Some of these players are:
-John Bowman DE A Had a good season, but will be 38 next July. May decide to retire. If he does return, he won’t be asked to take a pay cut.

  • B.J. Cunningham WR A Given the good young receivers on roster, given that he is earning between $150,000 and $162,000, given that Eugene Lewis could receive an increase of $30,000 to $36,000 to re-sign, B.J. may have to accept a pay reduction if he wants to return.
    -DeVier Posey WR A Will earn between $156,000 and $168,000 in 2020. Will most probably return, but could be asked to take a pay reduction.
    -Tony Washington OT A Given that he was injured in 2019, given that he will be 34 next February, given than he will earn between $150,000 and $162,000 in 2020, given that Chris Schleuger, OT A , has replaced him more that adequately and earning between 81,000 and 84,000 less than Washington and given that late signing Donald Hawkins, OT A , is a good depth player, I don’t expect Tony Washington to return.

For me, the 2019-2020 off-season emphasis will be to re-sign the top players and find good Defensive linemen for 2020. Some Defensive linemen will most definitely be available when free agency begins in February. Let’s hope that a few good ones will be signed.

Richard

Probably the worst thing happening to the recent CFL is all the 1 yr. contracts and NFL window. It creates such off-season uncertainty and lack of continuity and identity with players on your team.

It makes the 1st day of free agency more exciting than a playoff game. Not the way it should be.

In Hamilton, Dylan Wynn and Ja’Gared Davis are FA. I don’t know if they will be able to sign both but if one of them is on the market, I think they should be high on our shopping list

Don't want to hijack the thread, but this has become a CFL pet peeve of mine. But I guess I better just suck it up as it ain't likely to change.

Players are treated like pieces of meat, signed and then cut without warning if the team feels that it’s appropriate, and their contracts aren’t guaranteed. So they’re protecting themselves. I don’t blame them at all. A pro football career is awfully short compared to other professions and they have to make their money where they can, before their bodies deteriorate and they’re tossed on the scrapheap.

If the league really wants to stop the plethora of one-year contracts, it should make all contracts guaranteed. That way the player can benefit from agreeing to a two- or three-year contract. Right now long-term contracts only benefit the teams.

I agree philosophically but guaranteed contracts will never happen … north or south of the border … but the CFLPA might have a chance to push for a system where multi-year contracts include a clause where say 10% of the base salary for the upcoming season must be paid as a bonus by January 15th … teams would be forced to make some decisions early in the offseason, giving players more time to find a place with another team

What exactly changed to cause the 1 year deals? I can’t really remember.

It wasn’t that long ago that guys like Deslauriers ( wouldn’t it be ironic if he became GM, given the “love” he received here as a player) were signing 4 year deals. What changed? Was it driven by Players Union trying to drive up salaries?

Not sure if Jeremiah Johnson wants to return or not as he talked about possibly retiring right after the playoff game. I do expect the Als bringing back Jarveon Williams next year for training camp.

While this is not a free agent issue, I wonder if the team’s patience with Tyler Johnstone is running out since he is always in rehab. Not only does that mean he never plays in a game, Johnstone is also never healthy enough to train during the off-season. So when he does play, he is hardly better than someone they find off the street. Likewise, Johnstone himself may realize that trying to play professional football with his history of injuries is just an attempt at futility.

That’s a good point. The line did just fine without him, and they played without him for most of the season. Might be time to move on.

As okie said, it may also come down to what Johnstone sees as his life at age 40 … seem to recall he previously had back/knee issues, last season he only got in one game and was (I believe) sidelined with injury … this year again with a knee injury … more and more players are looking forward when considering the impact of injuries … wonder what his degree is in … if something that could be an off-field career that can have an impact as well.

If we hired Claybrooks as DC, I could see them signing Micah Johnson.

Given what he was paid in 2019 -between $189,000 and $210,000- Micah Johnson was a disappointment.

I would go for 25 years old Canadian LB Cameron Judge -born in Montreal- before any other defensive player. Will probably command between $150,000 and $162,000. I doubt that Saskatchewan will let him test free agency. He may try the NFL.

As a defensive tackle, my number 1 priority would be Dylan Wynn who had 44 defensive tackles in 2019 and 11 sacks. Hamilton will try to keep him, although they will have many players asking for raises.

Richard

I’m with you Richard. Micah Johnson was as useful this past season as his namesake Micah Torrance (only old folks like me will remember that name from an old western TV show).

I’ve always like Cameron Judge’s game, if he was available he’d be a fine replacement if Levels headed south.

Before my time but I love watching older movies and TV shows. So Micah the marshall from Rifleman?
I was given a list of older shows to catch up on by an elder of the tv tribe.

I really hope Levels stays.

Yep. The most useless marshal in the west. His whole method of combating crime was to call Lucas.

Johnson will probably cost less and a reunion with his ex DC with who he had success could be interesting if we hired Claybrooks. Wynn would be my #1 target to but I think Hamilton will sign him. I think it will be Ja’Gared Davis that will test the market and a reunion of Davis Johnson and Claybrooks is something that I think would help the Als defence alote.

Simmons Barron Johnson Davis

That is a D-Line that could make damage

He seems like he would be a great fit with Jones. But he’s sitting on a HC salary for the next two to three years. He can afford to be patient.

True … but at some point out of sight out of mind

Judge plays WLB and Levels plays SLB, so that wouldn’t work

I assume Lokombo moves back to WLB and you resign Lalama to back him up.

Re: Next HC in Ottawa

BC was a major disappointment under Claybrooks in his rookie season. He hired a very odd group of assistant coaches.

I was surprised though he was only given 1 year to prove himself.

Prior to his crash and burn he was almost a unanimous choice as the next great coach by many.

He was warmly received in BC, he won over many hearts with his humor, popping up on cooking shows showing his skills, going to many events, even buying a house. Things just fell apart from the start. They did improve though.

I’m sure he learned a ton about what to do and not to do as a HC. Good crop of FA QB coming up and hopefully they can find a good OC. Maybe get Dinwiddie as OC and Arbuckle as a QB out of Calgary, maybe even Mazoli depending on health.

If I’m Ottawa I’d roll the dice on him I think.