2021 Potential Free Agents

Alouettes de Montréal
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Yesterday, the CFL Official 2021 Free Agent Tracker was made available. We see that there are presently 328 potential free agents if we include the few players that have retired.

The Alouettes have the most potential free agents with 48 followed by Edmonton with 47 and Ottawa with 45; the Argos have the least with 22. For the other 5 CFL teams the numbers range between 28 and 38 with an average of 33.

I am positive that the Alouettes will not re-sign all these 48 players, but I nevertheless expect that many will be re-signed; I will list the names of the ones that I do think will re-sign along will the ones with questions marks.

1-Players that should be or must be re-signed:
Dante Absher A WR Priority.
Mario Alford A KR/WR Priority
Bo Banner N DL
Woody Baron A DT Priority
Jean-Samuel Blanc N DL
Ciante Evans A DB Priority
Felix Faubert-Lussier N WR
Tevin Floyd A LB
Kevin Fogg A DB
Philippe Gagnon N OL
Tyquawan Glass A DB
Donald Hawkins A OL
Monshadrik Hunter A DB/LB Priority
Jarnor Jones A DB
Kaion Julien-Grant N WR
DL Lalama N LB Priority
Eugene Lewis A WR Priority
Junior Luke N DL
David Ménard N DL
Henoc Muamba N LB Priority
Christophe Normand N FB
Jean-Gabriel Poulin N LB
Greg Reid A DB Priority
Trey Rutherford N OL Priority
Chris Schleuder A OL Priority
Matt Shiltz A QB
Antonio Simmons A DE Priority
Dominique Termansen N DB
Adrian Tracy A DE Priority
Jake Wieneke A WR Priority

2- Players with question marks due to legal issue, age and/or previous serious injuries.
John Bowman A DE
Quan Bray A WR
BJ Cunningham A WR
Tyler Johnstone N OL
Taylor Loffler N S
Naaman Roosevelt A WR
Tyrell Sutton A RB
Tony Washington A OL

Some of these players with question marks could still be re-signed but for the ones with previous serious injuries there could be clauses in their contracts that if on long term injury list their salary could be reduced

3- 2020 Draft Choices

A total of 10 players were drafted by the Alouettes in 2020; I expect that most of them will be signed and some are priorities to me. These drafted players were:
2nd Round DB Marc-Antoine Dequoy Priority
2nd Round DL Cameron Lawson Priority
3rd Round OL Cameron O'Donnell NFL Indianapolis Colts
3rd Round DL Marion Benoît Priority
4th Round LB Brian Harleimana Priority
6th Round OL Andrew Becker
6th Round LB Jersey Henry
7th Round SB Vincent Alessandrini
8th Round DL Brock Gowanlock
8th Round RB Colton Klassen After the draft, Scott Flory, his coach at Saskatchewan U, did send a text to Danny Maciocia telling him that this selection was a "steal"

The 2021 CFL free agency period will officially open at 12:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday, February 9,2021. On Sunday, January 31, 2021, the official Free Agency communication window will open where teams can begin negotiating with players under contract with other teams.

At noon next Tuesday, teams can begin re-signing some of their potential free agents. I presume that Danny Maciocia will be quite busy. Let's hope that the key players will be re-signed.

Richard

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Hey Richard, welcome back we've missed you .

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Thank You MadJack

Richard

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J'avais été très déçu de Maciocia lors de la période des joueurs autonomes en 2020 et, espérons-le, 2021 lui permettra de se reprendre. Mon opinion sur les joueurs, sans prendre en considération la variable monétaire.

Les incontournables:
-Dante Absher
-Mario Alford
-Ciante Evans
-Felix Faubert-Lussier
-Philippe Gagnon
-Kaion Julien-Grant
-DJ Lamala
-Eugene Lewis
-Taylor Loffler (en fonction de son état de santé)
-Henoc Muamba
-Christophe Normand
-Trey Rutherford
-Jake Wieneke
-Tony Washington
-Greg Reid
-Chris Schleuger
-Quan Bray (tout dépendant de sa situation judiciaire)

Les peut-être:
-Woody Baron
-Bo Banner
-Jean-Samuel Blanc
-Malcolm Carter
-Ty Cranston
-David Menard/Junior Luke
-Matt Schiltz
-Landon Rice
-Tyrell Sutton
-John Bowman (si la ligne ne s'améliore pas)
-Tyquwan Glass
-Antonio Simmons
-Adrian Tracy

Les sacrifiables:
-John Bowman (si la ligne s'améliore)
-David Menard/Junior Luke
-Naaman Roosevelt
-James Wilder Jr
-BJ Cunningham

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Hoping that William Stanback comes back. He was waived by the Raiders in August 2020. He is currently a free agent. We could certainly use him.

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William Stanback will need some time to get back in a Football mindset. Both of his parents died during the Pandemic, his father died from COVID-19 while his mother died from a heart attack brought on by the stress of the news. He might not recover at all. I wish William Stanback all the best in his life decisions

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It was my understanding that his father died from bladder cancer.

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I do not understand Chris Schleuger's status.

He recently participated in the Spring League but was never released according to CFL Transactions. Vinny Papale also played there, but his status changed to Free Agent on the site just before the Spring League began play. Since Schleuger was not among those who officially opted out, it seems to me that the Als had to release him so he could play elsewhere (unless the CFL and the Spring League had some sort of agreement that I was not aware of).

So, is Schleuger restricted to only re-signing with the Als before February 2021? If yes, then why?

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Last season, Danny Maciocia said that because of high bonuses paid to or agreed to signed players, his hands were basically tied and he had no" marge de manoeuvre importante".

Well, this season he won't have these excuses; of the 30 players presently signed, only Vernon Adams has an excessive salary, salary that was negotiated by Danny. Vernon's base salary in 2021 is $445,000 + $36,000 of incentives.

Based on these facts, I don't anticipate issues in re-signing our top potential free agents; I would say that the Alouettes are in much better situation than teams that have many players with high salaries already signed; in the East, the Argos and Tiger-Cats come to mind. Toronto has already 45 players signed, explaining why they have only 22 potential free agents.

I do hope that starting this week that Danny will announce the re-signing of some potential free agents.

Richard

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Team signed DE Chris Favoroso from Duquesne.

I assume Global kicker Enrique Yenny is not returning as his posting says he is now a Free Agent.

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Today, on the Alouettes site,Danny Maciocia said: We'd like to retain our core group for 2021. Players like Geno Lewis, Tony Washington, Trey Rutherford, Henoc Muamba or Jake Wieneke. We also know that William Stanback will be sought after." He added: "We have many verbal commitments in place, we just need to sign the contracts".

Wonder if we will have to wait more longer for confirmation of some re-signings.

Richard

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Yesterday, on the Alouettes site, Danny also said: "Yes, we'd like certain players in free agency but we'll have to ensure above all else that they correspond to what we need for our team".

I know that there are almost 2 months before free agency begins so it's difficult to foresee which players could interest the Alouettes. I do know that it is important that the defensive line be improved.

This being said, I, personally,hope that there are 2 players that the Alouettes will sign, if they become free agents. I am quite confident that 1 of these 2 will become free agent and he could sign with the Alouettes. These players are:

Regis Cibasu N SB/FB/WR With the Argos but has not been used. I don't expect the Argos to try re-signing him. He played for Danny at Montreal U and would help the Alouettes. Confident that he will be with the Alouettes in 2021.

Sean Thomas-Arlington N RB Tiger Cats. Would be a great addition, but less confident that he will be available. Last time he was a potential free agent, he was amongst the first ones signed by Hamilton. He also played for Danny at Montreal U and is from Montreal. Probably a wish that won't be met, since I believe that Hamilton will re-sign him.

We can always dream.

Richard

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J’adorerais voir Sean-Thomas Erlington avec les Alouettes, d’autant plus qu’en ce moment, nous avons un problème concernant les porteurs de ballon… Tyrell Sutton peut faire le travail quelques parties mais j’ai de la misère à le voir partant pour toute la saison. À voir aussi si Stanback effectuera un retour ou si James Wilder Jr sortira de sa «retraite».

Le problème des Alouettes aujourd’hui est le même qu’avant, soit la ligne défensive. Le problème est que beaucoup de joueurs de qualité sont admissibles au marché. Maciocia devra trouver un équilibre. Cependant, comme tu l’as dit, Il n’aura plus d’excuses.

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While I do anticipate that there will be "new" players between now and the beginning of the 2021 CFL regular season, I nevertheless now calculate what the 2021 salary costs could look like.

For the 2021 season the minimum cap will be at $4,750,000. while the maximum cap will be at $5,350,000. I know that we have heard that teams will have to try to limit their 2021 salary costs closer to the minimum cap rather than closer to the maximum cap. I definitely don't see how teams could have salary costs close to the minimum cap in 2021, particularly when we take into consideration provisions for players on 1game injury lists and practice rosters. I expect, that for some teams, it will be extremely difficult to be even a little under the maximum cap, without major salary reductions; such will not be the situation with the Alouettes; with the exception of QB Vernon Adams Jr., the Alouettes don't presently have signed players with excessive salaries; I am not saying that cuts won't occur but it should be minimal.

I include a summary of what the 2021 total salary costs could look like, based on present players could be on the 2021 team even though I am aware that it will change. The summary is by groups:

-Defensive line:
8 players, i.e. 4 Imports and 4 Nationals.
Salaries range between $72,000. and $126,000. Total $702,000. Average $87,750.

-Linebackers:
6 players, i.e. 2 Imports and 4 Nationals.
Salaries range between $75,000. and $168,000. Total $570,000. Average $95,000.

-Defensive backs:
8 players, i.e. 5 Imports, 1 Global and 2 Nationals.
Salaries range between $54,000(Global) and $108,000. Total $651,000. Average $81,375.

-Special teams:
2 Nationals.
Total $168,000. Average $84,000.

  • Offensive line:
    8 players, i.e. 2 Imports, 1 Global and 5 Nationals.
    Salaries range between $54,000(Global) and $144,000. Total $768,000. Average $96,000.

-Receivers and Returner:
7 players, i.e. 5 Imports and 2 Nationals.
Salaries range between $72,000 and $138,000. Total $645,000. Average $92,143.

-Running backs:
4 players, i.e. 2 Imports and 2 Nationals.
Salaries range between $72,000 and $108,000. Total $330,000. Average $82,500.

Quarterbacks:
3 Imports.
Salaries range between $75,000 and $456,000. Total $621,000. Average $207,000.

The total salary costs for 2021, excluding provisions for 1 game injuries and players on practice roster, amount to $4,455,000. for 46 players ,i.e. 3 Import QB,s 2 Global, 20 Imports and 21 Nationals.The average for these 46 players is: $96,848.; the average, excluding Adams is $88,067.; the average excluding Adams and 2 Global is $90,488..

There will be salary costs for 1 game injuries and players on practice roster; I respectively have provisions of $288,000. and $189,000. Once we add these provisions, the total expected salary costs for 2021, as at December 13,2020 is $4,932,000. i.e. $418,000 less than the maximum approved cap of $5,350,000.

Unless Danny signs eventual free agents at excessive salaries, I am quite confident that the total of $4,932,000. won't be much higher; in fact, it could be less. For instance, Danny could ask Vernon Adams to take a salary reduction in the vicinity of 10% or around $45,000. In 2021, teams will be allowed to dress only 2 QB,s. Teams could always decide, as BC did in 2019, to transfer this QB to the practice roster on game day, thus reducing the total salary costs. If the Alouettes were to do so, the total salary savings would be in the vicinity of $54,000.

If needs be, I will review/adjust my numbers when appropriate. In the meantime, let's hope that Danny will announce re-signings of some players this week.

Richard

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A very good salary break down, Richard. Thanks for the information

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Thanks DaveDaHammer.

Richard

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Stanback has signed.

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Very good news, thanks for the head’s up, Tony

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Un gros coup pour Maciocia. Je n’aimais pas Wilder Jr mais l’annonce de sa retraite laissait quand même un vide à combler au niveau des porteurs de ballon. Ça nous permet de signer Tyrell Sutton comme réserviste.

Ça commence bien.

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Très bonne nouvelle.

Richard