Well, I don't think anyone would disagree that Ottawa needs more veteran talent, so the big question is, who would you target in free agency out of who is available?
I hate to say it, but I think you likely will get a receiver from Hamilton as Bakari Grant, Samuel Giguere (National), and Greg Ellingson are all free agents and given we just resigned Tasker and Banks, I have to question how much money is going to be available for the other three and they all have experience working with Henry Burris.
I think Pascal Bailargeon is someone Ottawa should look to target to create more competition on the O.Line and Tristan Jackson would be another player I'd try to snag, given he returning abilities and ability to play defence.
I agree with the receivers for sure.
LT Stanley Bryant. If he has not signed yet by Calgary he is looking to cash in. Ottawa has the cash, the great facility, the great ownership group, the great city and fans.
Second LT Sir Vincent
Why not go for broke and go after Brett Jones as well.
I would think that Ottawa will get at least one of the three available receivers from the Cats. I'm thinking that Ellingson might be the one with Giguere possibly in the mix. I would also make a play for the Stamps Sinopoli who played his college ball in Ottawa and might be willing and convinced to come back to Ontario being as he is originally from Peterborough. Another possibility is the Bombers Aaron Kelly who is surprisingly not signed as of yet,he is a big target at 6' 4" and is just starting to show his potential after 2 yrs in Hamilton in and out of the lineup and starting the past two years in Winnipeg. On the O-Line there is a few good options out there in Hamilton's Marc Dile and Toronto's SirVincent Rogers for imports as well as the aforementioned Pascal Baillargeon and the crown jewel of FA's Brett Jones for Canadians. So even though a lot of the prime time players have re-signed with their current teams (Greene-Mtl,Banks-Ham,Dressler-Sask etc) there is still some good talent that might become available on Feb 10th. It will be very interesting indeed to see how and what my good buddy Desjardins does in FA to hopefully improve your team for this season. Oh and just for the record.....I still maintain that as soon as you get rid of this guy as your GM the better off you will be......Trust me on this,because so far I haven't steered you wrong yet on how this guy is a proven stumbler and bumbler when it comes to his job :roll: So with that being said and listing who I think you should target let's hope for your sake that Desjardins proves me wrong and hopefully signs the right players out there to improve your REDBLACKS for the upcoming season. :cowboy:
While I fully completely understand why you have a hate-on for the guy (I swallowed kind of hard when I went over his “body of work” with Hamilton when Ottawa hired him) I wish you were able to evaluate him on his Ottawa work alone.
Has he set the world on fire with greatness? Absolutely not. Has he been Hamilton-levels of a disaster? Not even close.
You thought he’d get nothing for Glenn, he got a middle pick in the first round. I don’t think anyone regrets the trade for Gott. His drafts have been as solid as anybody’s. The Price trade looks better with every veteran receiver that goes back to his original team. Cripes, one move you suggested was getting Onrea Jones, and Desjardins did it (and that one bombed)!
I don't think Ottawa should go after 2 Canadian receivers, referring to Brad Sinopoli and Sam Giguere, unless we really think one of them could be a huge impact player. And I don't see that in either. But they would help the ratio.
Basically, we are losing 2 Canadians who started last year, Jpotts and Krausnick and need to replace those, either with the Canadian depth stepping up, start ready draft picks, or Free Agents.
Hey like I said earlier I'm pulling for you guys to succeed I like your fans,your team,that you're back in the league,your City (have relatives there )I like everything about Ottawa..........except your GM :lol: Oh and by the way another FA that might be a good fit in Ottawa depending on his status would be Mr.Dan LeFevour.....you could replace your "Old" Ti-Cat QB with a newer younger model that might actually be around for more than a year or two. :cowboy: That's all for now folks We will see how it all unfolds on the 10th....Good Luck and Cheers to you bagging a FA or two next Tuesday. :rockin:
There's no way I'll quote the parts that I want properly... :oops:
To be clear, I know you don't have it in for us. I just don't think that Desjardins has done a bad job here. For example, that defense we like so much had, at times, four 1st-year CFL guys starting in the secondary and they held up just fine. That's not too damn bad. The team kept losing running backs, yet kept putting out productive ones, whether they had CFL experience or not. Those guys came fro somewhere.
To be compeltely fair, there have been times I've wondered about certain moves. Brandon lang seemed pretty productive when he was released (did you see his tweet after that? You'd have loved it! ). I found it hard to believe that Paris Jackson couldn't be of use in some way, shape of form, too. that's why I don't want to seem like I'm beating his drum too much. And I do find he can give off an arrogant vibe for a guy who's had little success at THAT role.
I guess at the end of the day, I wonder how long he needs to NOT make a spectacularly stupid move until you start to accept that maybe he won't.
:lol: Hmmmmm, don't know if this means anything but Desjardins is the only GM so far that has failed to sign any of his pending FA's. Seems a little odd but then again not surprising,maybe he's not interested in any of them in future plans with the team.
Oh well who am I to question someone as knowledgeable as Marcel :lol: I'm sure he knows what he's doing :roll: :lol:
Well, he also has the fewest by far, and doesn't want all of them back, so...Two are expected to retire and one has a severe knee injury that'll make him miss the start of the season.
It may also be because he signed a number of guys to extensions during the season though. That was a good idea, eh, bobo?
Here's what I was looking for. It's from Tim Baines of the Sun
While contract offers have been made, it’s possible none of the seven potential RedBlacks free agents will be back. Both OL Joe Eppele and LB Jason Pottinger could retire, while DL Moton Hopkins had an NFL tryout with Minnesota. The RedBlacks offered new deals to OL Alex Krausnick-Groh and WR Wallace Miles, who tuned them down. WR Dobson Collins could also be gone. The RedBlacks decided not to make an offer to RB Jonathan Williams, who injured his knee late last season and won’t be ready for several months.
It sounds like they really only want three back: Krausnick, Miles and Hopkins.
Krausnick isn't bad on the Line apparently can play both guard and center and has been used as a LS in the past while with the Riders. Also wasn't he the guy who caught a pass on a fake bowled over a player,straight armed another and rambled for something like a 30 yd completion last year.? Question for ya CRF was Krausnick a starter for you guys last year or just a rotational back up ? I personally wouldn't be upset if the Cats sign him if you guys don't,we could use help in the O-Line department,especially Canadians.
According to CFL.ca here is a list of the top 20 Free Agents still available. Not surprisingly no REDBLACKS made the list. There are a few surprises though....Kevin Glenn made the list and is in the top 5 players clocking in at #4. Four Ti-Cats made the list but surprisingly Bakari Grant and Sam Giguere weren't among them. Dan LeFevour is the only other QB outside of Glenn listed at #11 on the list. Anyways not sure if I agree with this list 100 % but here is the link.....judge for yourselves.
As someone who has watched Grant closely since his 2011 rookie campaign,I can tell you that he is one of the most underrated Receivers in the league and has always been overshadowed it seems behind other players his whole career. In his rookie season in 2011 the Cats had a veteran core of receivers in Arland Bruce,Marquay McDaniels,Mo Mann,Marcus Thigpen and Dave Stala and along with Grant also had two stud rookies named Chris Williams and Aaron Kelly in T.Camp. Grant eventually got into the starting lineup halfway through the season when the Cats shipped Bruce to the Lions,traded Mann to the Argos and released McDaniel who ended up in Calgary. In 2012 he was once again in the background as Williams was the big play guy for the Cats who got all the attention and accolades while Grant was the workhorse who played 2nd fiddle once again. Finally in 2013 Grant had his breakout year with just under 1000 yds rc on the year but the team also had a couple of guys namely two rookies named Ellingson and some guy named Tasker who were getting all the attention. This year it seemed like all the attention was on some guy named Banks and that Tasker guy who was having a terrific sophomore season,so once again Mr.Steady aka Mr.Grant was the forgotten man once again. I fell in love with this guy the moment my son and me saw him in T.Camp back in 2011. He is one of the best blocking receivers in the league if not the best,has a great work ethic and is very popular with his teammates as well as in the community. I don't quite get it myself why he doesn't get more accolades and recognition in the league,but for whatever reason he always seems to get lost in the shuffle whenever the topic of who is best comes up. It won't surprise me if the REDBLACKS sign Ellingson or Giguere or both BUT there's NO WAY you can have Bakari Grant IMO he is irreplaceable and should always be in a Black "n" Gold uniform. :rockin:
Well hopefully you don't get him ....but Seriously I do think you have a real shot at signing Ellingson or Giguere or possibly both.
Both would be a good fit and both have played with Burris as their QB. I like them both but realistically I don't see either one of them back with the Cats this season. In Giguere's case he was offered a contract extension which he turned down and in Ellingson"s case he got injured midway through last season and when he was finally healthy again couldn't find his way back to the active roster due to the Cats depth at the receiving position. I would love to see Ellingson back this year but I'm thinking that he'll be looking for a team where he can get more playing time,as for Giguere not so much as I think that the team is thinking of switching up their ratio this season and possibly only going with one starting Cdn receiver (Fantuz) instead of two.
You have to admit that the receivers were one of the major if not the major achilles heel of the RB's last season. You already have Henry and Price if you can add an Ellingson or Giguere into the mix that would be a nice core to build around. I guess we'll see how it all shakes down come next tuesday :cowboy:
What's the over/under as to how many receivers Desjardins signs in FA? I think they nab 3. I think Sinopoli probably has a plane ticket for Ottawa fora new conference picked out. Whether he's the only available National receiver remains to be seen. I think the odds are good Ellingson signs there as well. They'll probably be in on Ernest Jackson as well. I would not be surprised if they even look at a short term deal for Nik Lewis to reunite with Burris. He may not be a full time player anymore but his experience could be a huge asset.
A 5 receivers package with Mo Price, Sinopoli, Ellingson, Henry, and Lewis/Jackson/other, big upgrade from last year.
:cowboy:
I like your fans,your team,that you're back in the league,your City (have relatives there 
). I found it hard to believe that Paris Jackson couldn't be of use in some way, shape of form, too. that's why I don't want to seem like I'm beating his drum too much. And I do find he can give off an arrogant vibe for a guy who's had little success at THAT role.
IMO he is irreplaceable and should always be in a Black "n" Gold uniform. :rockin: