Alouettes release Étienne Boulay and Diamond Ferri

[url]http://en.montrealalouettes.com/article/alouettes-release-etienne-boulay-and-diamond-ferri[/url]

Sam Giguere is very good friends with Étienne Boulay, I would really like the cats to sign Boulay he is a solid safety. I just don't know what happened to cause the release of two of their top defensive players for the past couple years..

Étienne Boulay is better than what we currently have at safety so I say lets add to this french revolution we have going this season LOL.

They got beat out... Boulay would be a good fit to backup Hinds.

Can Boulay play corner? Hinds is our starting cornerback… I was thinking Boulay could be our starting safety and give us one more American somewhere else to help…

He started his career in Montreal as a halfback, was very successful under Chris Jones, he then left for the Jets and came back and was moved to safety. When Trestman came on board he preferred Proux over Boulay and its been downhill since for Etienne. Good versatile player, what may scare teams is the concussions he suffered last season. Chris Jones might have some room for him too.

Thanks for the insight.. I think he could be a good fit with us IF he is cleared from the concussion problems. You can never go wrong with giving him a try out and seeing what happens.

Perhaps, Reinebold is sending a message or attempting to put his stamp on this defense....just a thought...

It was strickly a ratio issue. Als going with 5 Offensive linesmen, 1 linebacker and 1 defensive linesman.

According to Herb Zurkowsky from the Montreal Gazette....

"As a veteran non-import, Boulay is not expected to be on the market for long, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see him resurface in Hamilton or Toronto."

Could he be coming this way?????

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/V ... z1xyV31bIu

From the Montreal Gazzette....

[b]"Ferri appeared to be on the bubble almost from the outset of training camp, which began two weeks ago at Bishop’s University, simply because he wasn’t practising with the starters on defence. But he was believed to be safe because of his versatility. Over the course of his career, Ferri has played linebacker, safety, running back, special teams and has returned kicks.

Also, The Gazette has learned Ferri agreed to a drastic reduction in salary just before camp. Coincidentally, fullback Kerry Carter accepted a similar pay cut over the winter. But that didn’t protect his job security and, now, Ferri has suffered a similar fate."[/b]

Wow....what a disrespectful way to treat a veteran who has given so much of himself, even took a huge pay cut....and we were lectured about the way Cobourne was "treated" here during this last off season...

I guess it is business.....even in Montreal!!!

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/sports/V ... z1xyWEhCLF

Not the same situation at all. Ferri hadn't had a great year, and it was probably a case of Popp saying, "Look, if you want to be around, you'll have to take a pay cut and earn your spot in training camp." No guarantee that Ferri was going to stick with the team. I appreciate what Diamond did for the Als, but he's been an Al for many years. He didn't get hosed after one year of playing high-quality football. His production was down, he was splitting time with Guzman in the backfield, and on top of his tendency to take bad penalties, he usually misses a few games every year due to a recurring stomach ailment. Plus he's 30. He had five seasons with the Als and I'll always remember him as a competitor. But if he hadn't agreed to a paycut before TC, he would probably have been released.

The Coaching staff was very clear that pretty much everyone on defense would have to earn their spot and we are not done. Some players will be playing their job against Toronto.

RDS reported , at 8 a.m. Saturday, that 3 teams had already contacted Boulay. I hope and expect that HAM is one of them.

So, Ferri had a reocurring ailment, was 2 years younger than Cobourne, played 5 different positions for this team, and took a very serious pay cut, and that still wasn't enough for Popp.

Pretty cold treatment. And here you Als guys led me to believe that Obie was such a bad guy...Really???

This isn’t a charity ward. I was critical of Obie’s treatment of Avon because I felt it was deceitful to lure a player to Hamilton with a big multi-year contract, only to cut him after one GOOD year because a cheaper younger body came along. (it was also stupid from a business standpoint – Mallett had proven nothing and had serious injury concerns, and damn if those concerns didn’t turn to reality with his season-ending injury)

Players are always going to be released. That’s business and I have no problem with it, all other things being equal. Going back in Hamilton’s history, you had to get rid of Maas, Printers, etc. They were brought in to succeed, given ample time to do it, and they bombed. No problem there. In Avon’s case, he did succeed. He did everything asked of him but at the end of the day, his contract wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on.

In Ferri’s case, we aren’t talking about cutting a guy after a year. He’s given good service to the Als, but let’s be clear: we’ve treated him well. He’s been paid well and he’s had a good long run as an Alouette (five years) under three different coordinators (Jones, Burke, Tibesar). Yes, he’s a versatile guy, but his play fell off last year, and no one is going to keep a player around out of pity or respect for the past. Herb’s last Gazette story on the release makes it clear that Popp was upfront with Ferri in the offseason. Basically, Popp told Ferri that he would have to take a paycut if he wanted the chance to win a roster spot in camp, but that he was not guaranteed a job even if he took the cut. Ferri knew his options and chose to come to camp KNOWING that he might not make the team. And as it turns out, he didn’t.

Ferri was a key member of our championship teams, but that’s in the past. We assembled a fierce group of talent at linebacker to let the best men prevail, and that’s what’s happening. Everyone on defense has known for months that the D was going to be rebuilt. Guys are fighting for jobs all over the field. And even then, the coaches thought long and hard about cutting Ferri and Boulay. According to Trestman, they spent hours in meetings thinking about which direction to go in.

Time will tell whether we made a mistake with these releases. Who knows? Maybe we’ve blundered and we’ll regret it down the line. But none of it is cold treatment or indicative of anything but a team trying to make itself better. Popp didn’t lie to Ferri or make promises he didn’t deliver. This is a business.

Hi Discipline:

And the Als have been an established and successful team for years, the Tiger cats are building. Therefore, more difficult and hard decisions need to be made.

Exactly, it's not a charity ward. That means if management can find, what they perceive to be a better player, and yes this is a salary cap world, cheaper player, they have a responsibility to do so. Avon has played in this league for some 5 years and is aware of that. If at this stage, he needs to be filled on the realities of pro sport, that's his agent's job and not the GM. So, let's not point to Obie as some villian. And let's not forget that Cobourne in his return speech in Hamilton stated that this could be his last season. So what is Obie to do in the meantime, wait breathlessly for a player's decision.

EVERY player lives with the knowledge that they could be cut, no matter how good they think they are. The player has the right to go for more money. Conversely, the team has the right to find better talent where they can. It's a fair exchange.

"And even then, the coaches thought long and hard about cutting Ferri and Boulay. According to Trestman, they spent hours in meetings thinking about which direction to go in."

And who is to say that Obie and his group didn't do the same with Cobourne. You weren`t at the meetings, so how are you to know.

"Time will tell whether we made a mistake with these releases. Who knows? Maybe we've blundered and we'll regret it down the line. But none of it is cold treatment or indicative of anything but a team trying to make itself better. Popp didn't lie to Ferri or make promises he didn't deliver. This is a business."

And maybe, Obie made a mistake. Every GM does. Look at the scrutiny that Tillman is going through over the trade of Ricky Ray. And his track record is as good as anyone's in this league.

As you say, "time will tell".

Obie did not “CUT” Avon, Avon ASKED to be released from his multi-year contract when Mallet signed.
You are obviously misinformed and your accusations of “deceitful” and poor “treatment” of Avon by Obie are unwarranted.
What is obvious is your disrespect for our Obie.
Old Fan was just showing that the “Als Guys” seem to have a double standard when it comes to Popp and Obie.

You believe what you want. It’s pretty clear what happened: Avon saw the writing on the wall and knew he’d be cut anyway, so he asked for his release early. Obie signed Mallett to be the feature back despite having a feature back making good coin already on the roster. Avon’s no fool, he knew what was coming.

You are obviously misinformed and your accusations of "deceitful" and poor "treatment" of Avon by Obie are unwarranted.
Just my opinion. And I don't think I'm misinformed at all.
What is obvious is your disrespect for our Obie.
I happen to not like some of his moves recently. I'd hardly say that constitutes disrespect, unless you are so blinded by your devotion to the team that you interpret any criticism of a member of the Hamilton organization as disrespect. If so, that's your issue, not mine.
Old Fan was just showing that the "Als Guys" seem to have a double standard when it comes to Popp and Obie.
It's not a double standard, as I took the time to explain in my previous post. old fan made an assertion; I answered it as best I could. To me the comparison is inapt. Having said that, I am certainly not going to claim that Popp is perfect, or a saint. I was not happy with how he treated Kerry Carter this offseason, for example. With Obie, though, I think it's been a bit of a pattern the past couple of years -- luring free agents to Hamilton with big contracts, then cutting or trading them the second a cheaper option comes along.

Let me understand this, Discipline, just because Obie brings in competition for the running back position for training camp, which he is entitled to do, and Avon backs out, that's Obie's fault. WHAT????

Avon Cobourne wanted to be the highest paid running back in the league. But yet doesn't want to face competition at camp for his job. If Mallett is so unproven, as you asserted earlier, then what would there be to fear?

We had a pretty good receiving corp last season, yet they brought in more receivers for this camp. I didn't see any of last year's starters not show up or leave town.

Look at the odds that Diamond Ferri faced going to camp this year in Montreal, yet he even showed up.

I guess someone forgot to send Avon the memo that training camp is about competiton.

Blind devotion...no...i gave that up during childhood....respect for the job that Obie and his staff have done....my goodness YES.

You don't like the job or some of the moves he's made...OK...you are entitled to your opinion..and that's what this forum is for...I just think that your dislike for the man blinds you to the quality of his work. And, if you think that's not much, after he cleaned up the mess left by one your team's geniuses, he has steadily built this team into a contender. Took your Als out of the Grey cup last season.

There's still more work to do. I trust that Obie will get us there.

:thup:

I wasn't happy about what happened with Avon, but I don't think there were any hard feelings on his side and I don't think there was any disrespect involved at all. Now I've made no secret of the fact that I am no big supporter of O'Billovich, but it is his job to sign guys he thinks are better. I have no doubt they would have let it play out in training camp if Avon wouldn't have asked for his release. The better comparison to this would actually be what Taaffe did to Hitchcock. That sucked. Anyway all of this (as much as it sucks) is the nature of the business and these guys know it going in.

As for these two clowns, I hate them both lol. Especially Ferri. I just know one of them is going to end up here. First Eiben and now this. It's like the team is reading my posts about who I don't like and deliberately bringing them here lol..