York Jets, and could be signed to a contract, pending a physical.
Kackert is set to become a free agent on Feb. 15, and has had an offer from the Argos, but he is interested in exploring
his other options !!!
8) According to Arash Madani, Argos running back, and Grey Cup MVP, Chad Kackert, has recently worked out with the New
these rapid NFL defections are far too common and exasperating for my liking.
Player recognition and identification consistently suffer, which breeds indifference and lack of emotional attachment with many CFL fans.
Hopefully the next TV contract will increase markedly, in order to provide additional incentive for player retention.
sadly, yet not unexpectedly, Chris Williams may be another to test NFL waters after the coming season. 
FA QB Mike Reilly may also defect to the NFL as well…
It appears that the Jaguars are interested in signing the pivot.
[b]BC Lions backup QB Mike Reilly may be the next CFL player to sign south of the border with an NFL team.http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=412389According to a report from News 1130 in Vancouver, Lions GM Wally Buono confirmed the Jacksonville Jaguars interest in the 27-year-old signal caller.
[/b]
A couple players out of 600 isn't a big deal. We are talking an undersized RB and backup QB here and every time a player goes from the CFL to the NFL it makes it easyer to recruit Americans.
While American players are easily recruited, the prevailing issues with most NFL defectors is the time/resources allocated by CFL teams to develop players only to lose them after a breakout season or two.
Reilly is a 3 year CFL veteran who may very well be the starter for the Esks or Bombers this coming season, although could be enticed to become a perennial NFL backup due to austere pay discrepancies between the leagues.
Similar with Kackert, and the majority of those who flee across the border.
The average fan cannot relate nor recognize a star player in the CFL which seriously hinders/limits CFL marketing and merchandising potential.
Ah Captain, like that Jack Armstrong quote and pic. :thup:
True enough tangle but this also happens even within a major league itself and I think it was one of the issues with the Expos. In terms of the average fan as you say, no question the average fan relates to what is seen from the 4 major leagues on prime time television knowing the players make the big money and are shown on American television on prime time sort of thing or Canadian television knowing it's "major". But the CFL model is different and is working, I think there are enough fans out there who aren't so average so to speak and can see past the mainstream (I know I keep using this term but it just seems to keep popping back in my head for the 4 major leagues in NA) "major" leagues and cherish what a league like the CFL brings, just like college sports fans and fans of leagues like MLS. All of these leagues recruit and draft, well I guess college sports don't draft I suppose, unlike the farm leagues.
Ok, to change the focus of this thread a little bit. If Kackert goes, is there a RB on our roster that might be useful in a trade with the Blew team, giving us a possible player in the DB or DL positions.
Cobourne for ........
Mallet in a package for ..........
Even if they do sign in the NFL it's no guarantee they'll stick. More often than not the CFLers that go down south get cut around Labour Day and come back to their CFL teams.
The defections don't seem like a big deal until they happen to your team. Locally, the departures, that I think, affected this team the most was Justin Hickman and Garret MacIntrye. We never did solidify those positions after they left, Justin Medlock's emmigration did send the fandom here into a tissy, but his replacements proved more than safisfactory.
Speaking of Medlock, I thought at the time of his signing that he would be a NFL starter. And he was, for a while. And with all he showed in Hamilton, did not even last a season in the southern league. So, yeah, a player going south is not guaranteed success.
Meantime, the CFL team that loses the player, had to endure his development and then when the payoff comes suffers the defection.
There was no development in these 3 players. They all came in ready to play. In Reilly’s case he is a backup QB who has told the Lions he is not returning so in fact its better for the Lions that he goes to the NFL than a division rival.
That they do, and it seems to me, that more often than not, when they return from a stint in the US, they are not nearly as good as what they were before they left. . . witness Andy Fantuz, Solomon Elimimian, Kenton Keith, Casey Printers, the list goes on and on and on. . .
8) But what about those CFL'ers that do make it in the NFL, such as Cameron Wake, and our own Marcus Thigpen,
Justin Hickman and Garret McIntyre !!! We have not yet replaced the likes of Garret, or Hickman !!
By the way...Happy New Year "MadJack" !! <!-- s:wink: -->:wink:<!-- s:wink: -->
But not better for the league, and I’m sure Wally would be the first to acknowledge that. It’s great when a Cameron Wake goes to the NFL because it makes the CFL more attractive to U.S. free agents. But there is no upside for the CFL to a Reilly going south. We don’t have enough quality QBs as it is, so losing even a promising backup is bad for this league.
If he goes to Jacksonville, Reilly might have a chance to play since they are fed up with Gabbert, but Tebow is apparently Jags-bound, too. I’ll be surprised if Reilly ever plays a regular-season snap in the NFL – Ricky Ray and Dave Dickenson didn’t make it down there, and the NFL QB pool was (arguably) thinner then than it is now.
I don’t get too bothered by it. I think the advantages outweigh the few players we lose. A good example is Eliminiam, he took his shot now lost his job and Bighill just got a nice contract. Medlock allowed Congi a Canadian to get a starter’s gig…
No question, everyone is replaceable in sports, even Wayne Gretzy.
the cfl will never have another doug flutie
Some one mentioned just last week that the position of running back is the easiest position to replace in football. I don't believe the Argos will suffer. Indeed they will likely sign a better running back than Kackert and, when Kackert fails to make the NFL, and returns to the Argos, his replacement will have won that running back position. Bye Bye Kackert!
I think Kackert would like to be back with the Argos but his negotiating power is very low, so I think he will do whatever he can to market himself.
My point is QBs are different. All those other guys are replaceable. Every year good new DEs, LBs, DBs, WRs and RBs come into the CFL. But not every year do we get good new QBs. Lulay a couple of years ago, nobody new last year who made an impact – one every three years or so seems to be typical these days. So we can easily relace Elimimian, Wake, Medlock, etc., but the loss of a Reilly (who appears to have potential to be a strong CFL QB) would be a blow to the league.
"There was no development in these 3 players. They all came in ready to play. In Reilly's case he is a backup QB who has told the Lions he is not returning so in fact its better for the Lions that he goes to the NFL than a division rival."
Fair enough. Hfxtc. However, I don't recall the Als losing any players to the NFL over the past number of years, if at all. So, your lack of concern, is understandable from that point of view. But, one sided.