This means Cates is gone! We are losing one of the premier players in the CFL and I for one will be sorry to see Wes go.
Cates gave the Riders' yeoman service, but let's face it, running backs have a relatively short shelf life, and Cates may just have passed his 'best before' date.
I think last year Cates never really got up to speed until the Grey Cup. He didn't get to benefit from Training Camp and the first few games to really get into shape. Instead he was healing his shoulder. Given a full off season and a full Training Camp, Cates, in my opinion, will be back on form. I really really hope the Riders re-sign him. The guy was a beast in the Grey cup.
Waste of payroll....
What an absolute laughable signing.
A mediocre import RB.
$$$.Probably Pricey.$$$$
Blocking skills...pffft.
recieving out of back-field......pffft.
Durability is average.
BS. to anyone that says,but, but but Dorsey is such a awesome returner..........Our return game ROCKED after some adjustments in 2009............
Nice work Taman, SIgning Bates and Dorsey. Two average players at positions where there is an over abundance of talent to pick from......
I hope the loss of Cates is just rumour......who knows what the plan is with Dorsey, but I agree, it don't look good.
Good points deflated. You’re bang on. Bates I questioned, liked Dorsey, but did we need him?
Armstead had a great year back with us.
AND…you just gotta love it when our kick returners can throw touchdowns too!
I will replay that moment in my mind now…ahhhhhh…it’s good to be in green!
X2
I believe his salary is 125 k…so yes, pricey.
Cates is getting the short end of the stick. Give him this year when he is healthy and has a healthy o line in front of him. So now we are relying on Hugh Charles, who I think can be a dynamic back in this league...IF... he learns how to hang onto the ball and Dorsey who is..well..average at best. Cates is an excellent blocking back, an outstanding recieving back and still has some burst left.
Cates is slow. The burst is gone. Even against Montreal....he ran well, but never broke anything. None of that is on account of an off-season shoulder injury.
There's a rule about running backs after they hit the age of 30.
It's fine for fans to fall in love with their players, but management can't let that love cloud their decisions. Ironically, you'd all be the first to excoriate Taman if he resigned Cates for big bucks, and he plods along through the first half of the year. "How come we never upgraded at RB? How could he not see Cates was past his prime?" And so on.
Look, he gave us 3 very good years. But those years have taken a toll. Both his average per carry and rushing long have fallen off in 2009.
That's just the reality, folks.
Right on Artie - couldn’t have said it better myself. We got the young guys on the roster - time for them to shine. I like the Dorsey signing - if we don’t do something about the holes in our D we will need one heck of a lot long returns this season.
Crazzzzy to compare Cates to Dorsey.
Two totally different styles of a RB.
YES.Cates best days are behind him, but lets not forget....
-Majority of the time Cates Was the lone RB in the back-field, and ALWAYS the primary back.
-DeJa Vu on the 5 yard deep shot-gun draw.....ZZZzzzzzz
-Poor run-blocking by the O-line....IMO.
Artie-Lange Quote:
"Well, and between Dorsey and Charles, you've probably got your primary backfield needs covered. Neither are every down players, but can share a starter's role quite fine".
What I don't quite understand about the above is....
-Dorsey has been signed to a 1+1 @ 125000g , 60g is a signing bonus.......To me those are primary back numbers.
- If Dorsey and Charles are to share primary back duties, Why was Cates NOT afforded the same luxury with Charles.
I agree. We need to upgrade many aspects of the RB position, but Dorsey is not the way to go.......Especially at 125g.
I don't know where the $125k figure is from...so I can't say if it's accurate. Anyway, cap impact depends on what Cates was making/wanted this time. My guess is he made more than this last year. And, Taman said Cates was made an offer. It is possible that Dorsey was signed because Cates is dicking around playing the market, not that Cates was given the boot for Dorsey. If Cates was so eager to re-sign, he had all offseason, and an offer waiting at the deadline. Better free agents than him re-upped with their old team before the deadline (including Reynolds). If he passes on the offer made, a team's gotta do what they gotta do. And Dorsey was available, so.....
Anyway, Dorsey gives you a good back (he was Toronto's starter in 2008 before getting hurt) plus the #1 or #2 returner in the league. That ain't bad. And, maybe he now makes Armstead unecessary, meaning his salary takes the place of Cates and Armstead - if so, you're saving money.
Plus, everyone here was whining the last two years how ET let Dorsey go, and he should be here, etc.....now he comes back, and you're whining about that. What did you think, if he came back last year that a space would just magically be made for him?
Plus, who said Cates is not re-signing? He's unsigned. So if he signs, and comes to TC and beats out Charles, we keep him and Dorsey.
Yup. His success against my Als in the Grey Cup had more to do IMO with LaPolice’s schemes and misdirection than his ability to break off big gains.
There's a rule about running backs after they hit the age of 30.For every Pringle, there are 10 more backs who decline after 30. It's the most physically punishing position in football and there's a reason why the average career of a running back is only 4-5 years.
It seems like there's a wall they hit. Heck, it even happened to the best running back in the game (Tomlinson) this year - he was a shadow of the player he was in 2006. You see it more in the NFL, but look at guys like Shaun Alexander, who go from great to done in a very short time. Age is very unkind to running backs. There were times last season even where the Riders were actually playing Stu Foord (God love him, he's a great kid, but, c'mon...) ahead of Cates, in key drives, at ket points in a game. Not garbage time.
It's a hard reality, but once running backs hit 30, they rarely have a year better than the one prior. It's too bad, but what would be worse is hanging on to a guy too long. If Cates does re-sign, he's not an every down back anymore either. He probably wasn't even one last season.
"Considered to be the top prize of the CFL's 2010 free agent class, Dorsey, a terrific punt and kick returner, has signed a two-year contract (including an option) with the Roughriders worth $125,000 per year. The first season includes a signing bonus of $60,000. Dorsey was initially being courted by four teams, but when negotiations became serious, B.C. and Hamilton were out of the race and it was down to Saskatchewan and Toronto."
[url=http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/2010/02/17/riders_dorsey/]http://www.sportsnet.ca/football/cfl/20 ... rs_dorsey/[/url]In 2007 the Riders trade Dorsey to the Bombers and one month later Taman cuts him. Now in 2010 he opens the purse and tells Dorsey he can have as much money as he wants! Huh? IMO this is a prime example of the reason the Bombers were flailing around in ineptitude during the Taman years! Cates may have lost his burst or he may have been suffering from slow recovery of off-season shoulder surgery as well as missing TC along with the pre-season and the first few games of the regular season. In any event he still came close to laying down a K of rushing yds while continuing to be the best backfield blocker and backfield pass receiver in the CFL. Not bad! Calgary made it clear that resigning Reynolds was going to be a top priority in the off season. Compare that to the Riders who have been mum and even evasive about Cates returning. I think Miller has had his mind made up for months now that he wasn't interested in having Wes return. I really can't see them bringing all three backs into TC even if Cates was willing to return after this kind of snubbing. I'm afraid Cates time in Saskatchewan is over.
You're making assumptions. How do you know Cates hasn't said "thanks for the memories" and chose to move on? Or saw the Riders offer and said "no thanks"? And this second option is the most likely, as Taman said they had an offer out to him as at the deadline, and Cates had not accepted it.
If that is the case, what are they supposed to do? Sit back and wring their hands and hope he signs? Or, if he's lukewarm on returning, do you take that money and find what you consider to be the best alternative, before you end up with neither player?
And, if Cates is such a can't miss talent, how come he still unsigned by ANYBODY 72 hours into free agency, when Toronto and BC are both minus their starting RB's from last season?
Well I don’t know but have you considered the possibility that the Riders made him such a rediculous offer that he had no choice but to turn it down? Do you seriously think that Dorsey is an alternative to Cates? I have heard that Toronto has made Cates an offer but he is waiting to see if the Riders will come to their senses before he accepts. In any event I was just responding to the assumptions you were making!
No, I don't believe that the Riders would have made Cates a "rediculous" offer. Since 2007, this organization has conducted itself with class, and have treated all of their stakeholders very well. There has been no example of this team mistreating a player, coach or anyone in this way to justify that assumption.
You seem afraid of change. Stop projecting those fears as flaws by the team in its treatment of players.
You're making assumptions again! Can you say Matt Dominguez?